Lansing — Michigan milk producers and consumers are unhappy with Gov. Rick Snyder's plan to save money by getting rid of the state's dairy farm inspectors and turning the job over to the dairy industry.
Even industry representatives say it's the government — not them — that should be doing the inspections.
The change, estimated to save taxpayers $600,000 a year, is among the recommendations in Snyder's proposed budget, in which he seeks to erase a $1.4 billion deficit while funding a $1.8 billion business tax cut.
Keith Creagh, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said many dairy farms that belong to co-operatives are already inspected by industry representatives and 58 percent of Michigan's 2,200 dairy farms receive industry inspections. The state wants to expand that model to all farms and will check up on the private inspectors through periodic audits and enforcement, he said.
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