Trautman Family Farm

Time.

 Never enough! Wasted time. Valuable time. Learning time. Action time.

Once it goes by, it's gone. And we've all experienced "boy that's x amount of time I can't get back". Wasted time.

As farmers - just as I recognized as an entrepreneur - as others with a keen sense of the world - recognize and appreciate - and value - time.

We are coming into a new farming season. Every day is decision after decision, made through evaluation of all things; what help do I have, what resources do I have, and importantly, what weather - what in the realm of things I can't control - but can plan for - are coming up. Then make the best decisions you can and don't be too much of an armchair quarterback on yourself.

For many people, their work time is all valued the same. Talk to me now, later, it's all the same. Not for me. For me to stop for a day right now - and not, say, make that hay, or sow those seeds, that hour I take to talk to you could cost me thousands of dollars. It has, many times. An hour has made a difference. 15 minutes even!

And I am having to make those decisions - today for example - is beautiful - and I will be most of the day walking around with Glenn Goldschmidt, ace inspector for DATCP, attempting to get inspected and ducks in a row to get our milk off the farm - in 10 gallon cans mind you - crazy as that is - to be made into cheese. Yep, that's a good use of time.

Yet this is three weeks in the waiting, to get Glenn's time, he's just all booked up, and has so much more important on his schedule than to get this farmer back making money, after 5 months of not making money. All those items on Glenn's schedule: Way more important than that. You see how I rate with Glenn. Yet, in this three weeks he has had over five hours into arguing about getting milk into a cheese plant. Being a complete idiot about it, and after all that, we're right back where we started at and that's going to be fine.

Isn't that funny? Glenn doesn't have time knowing my money is on the line, but he does find time to argue nonsense, where it wastes someone else's time too. And I would love to see just what was so important on that schedule of his. Makes you wonder about the attitude of our public servants, doesn't it?  Every holiday off, best overall benefits package on the planet, as compared to a works 365 days a year, and especially in my case, dairy farmer with no income, I can wait. There you go! Of course I should crawl in on my belly and be grateful, right?

This story has a happy ending though (update- no it doesn't); that ending is going to be written today, but it's going to be happy because of a good egg -- within DATCP -- cutting through the cancer that is the arrogance, complacency and incompetence I and others have seen so very much of within DATCP.

I called Glenn's boss yesterday morning, and I lit into him. See, Glenn out and out lied to me the day before. I don't know how you feel about people lying to you, but it sends me straight to angry. I won't be treated like that. Glenn's boss, Mike Barnett, though, talked with me and took what I feel is a great attitude. I'm the customer. He took the time to understand - and appreciate my situation - and my time. He offered and has acted as a coordinator on this, and I believe, as much as a giant ego like Glenn Goldschmidt is capable of, given direction to Glenn to not be a giant ass like he has been - his compulsion of how to act against someone he thinks he can treat that way.

Mike gets it - most probably on a human basis - what is right and wrong - but also recognizing what a black eye on DATCP - knowing I write about all this stuff - and Glenn Goldschmidt, thinking he can treat people like crap with impunity would be.

And Mike gets that strategically - mainly because I explained it to him - how it is in everyone's interests for us to get back making money from milk - legally. Otherwise it sure strikes a person as a vendetta - punitive - and where's the place for that in government against it's citizens most especially by government employees, right? We should definitely find out more about that!

So today we will find out. I'm going to have my video camera with me. The deal is this - I won't make everyone uncomfortable filming the whole thing as long as Glenn isn't being the complete ass he has been to this point. Glenn takes a good attitude, does his job, works well with others, and we all get along just famously. Glenn can't control his compulsion to be an idiot, and I pull out the camera, and we can see how much of an idiot Glenn can be tomorrow on YouTube, he creates a crisis. Seems like we've played this all before.

I want to mention again the respect I have for the inspectors of DATCP. Every one I have met have been great, and they get it. Many others too numerous to mention - great - get it - have and show respect for their customers, the public.

Wish me well today - it is and has been my desire not to have to be 'rough' but to do what I love: Farm. Dairy. Help people. Building a brighter future for people - working towards more farms, not less. I am grateful there are those within government that do get it, and only hope eventually we will see more of them and less of the cancer.

I want very much to say here - tomorrow (tragically can't do it)- that Glenn was great. He was a professional, he did not lie to me, he worked through any issues with intelligence - and not belligerence - and that all of us accomplished something valuable today: getting one farm back to work. Any of your meetings and activities today that important?

PROUD Wisconsin Dairyman, Scott Trautman

Postscript: Glenn controlled himself at the dairy plant, but was unable to control himself at our farm. He put poor Patrick Zaffino through hell, who I think was embarrassed by what zeal Glenn, who wasn't even there to do a Grade A inspection, was pulling, and Glenn put extreme pressure on him - like as in his job, I'm sure, to fail us. We will be talking to lots of inspectors about just what they are passing and failing.

I'm here to tell you that my less than 2 year old facility, fully approved by DATCP, is a model milking operation. And Glenn, because of his inability to control his hatred of me in particular, and farmers/raw milk in general, found non-issues to punish me.

Again: A facility that has not changed in design or implementation since DATCP approved it 2 years ago, inspected it 4 times with no problems, as close as 2 weeks before Foremost Farms dropped us and DATCP went on the attack, and yesterday Glenn made 7 issues and forced our inspector (new guy to us, they rotate, as always, seems like a really nice fellow) to not allow our Grade A license. Tyranny people, tyranny, and a government official (Glenn Goldschmidt) going on a personal vendetta using his official position to punish a (if I do say so myself) great little Wisconsin Family Dairy Farm because the owner - me - would dare to speak against DATCP and for raw milk.

Mike, need your help bud. All of Wisconsin but especially DATCP needs your help. Glenn is out of control - like some others at especially Food Safety - who are bringing suffering to good family farms. Put them on a leash and make them treat their customers with respect and use common sense.