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Raw Milk Advocate Michael Schmidt Facing Criminal Charges of Sheep Theft

Four Charged in the Unlawful Removal of Sheep Quarantined for Scrapie

By , Farms.com

An Ontario farmer best known for his legal battle for producing and selling raw milk is now facing theft charges for taking sheep from a quarantined farm. The sheep were being quarantined by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) over concerns that the Shropshire sheep had a disease known as scrapie.

Schmidt is one of four who have been charged with what’s becoming known as the Montana Jones Scrapies case. The other three who are facing charges in addition to Schmidt are Montana Jones, Suzanne Atkinson and Robert Pinnell. The charges were laid following an investigation into 31 sheep that had gone missing from an Ontario farm on April 2, 2012. The charges include obstructing a CFIA inspector, transportation of animals under quarantine and conspiracy to defraud the public service. The sheep were later tracked back to a farm near Chesley, Ontario.


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Spring Planting Prep Just Got Serious… We NEED This!

Video: Spring Planting Prep Just Got Serious… We NEED This!

Getting closer to planting season means one thing… it’s time to get EVERYTHING ready.

Today didn’t go exactly as planned—we thought we’d be hauling potatoes again, but instead we spent the day digging equipment out of the cellar, hooking up the grain drill, and getting tractors ready to roll. With wheat planting just around the corner, every piece of equipment matters.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a normal day without a few problems… dead batteries, hydraulic issues, and a truck tire that absolutely refused to cooperate. We tried everything—jump packs, bead bazooka, ratchet straps… and eventually had to bring out the “big guns” just to get things moving again.

But that’s farm life—adapt, fix, and keep moving forward.

We’re getting close to go-time. Wheat seed is coming soon, and planting season is right around the corner