Oregon cheesemaker still buying mega-dairy’s milk

Tillamook County Creamery Association is still buying milk from Lost Valley Farm, despite saying it ended its contract with the embattled mega-dairy.

A spokeswoman for Tillamook, the maker of Tillamook cheese, said that it is better for the cows and environment to keep a relationship with the dairy, which was accused by the state of flouting its responsibility to manage wastewater and manure for nearly the entire time it has been in operation.

Tillamook buys the bulk of milk produced in Boardman, where it is partial owner of a dairy processing plant. Spokeswoman Tori Harms said the dairy product giant is still evaluating a future business deal with Lost Valley.

Lost Valley Ranch was sued in February by the Oregon Department of Agriculture to temporarily stop it from generating any wastewater. Wednesday, the state settled with the 17,000-cow dairy on the conditions that Lost Valley severely limit how much wastewater it creates, remove 24.4 million gallons of liquid manure from its overloaded storage facilities by summer and comply with the terms of its state permits, such as notifying the state if there is a wastewater or manure spill.

History of violations

California dairyman Greg te Velde, 60, bought the 7,288-acre ranch permitted to house 30,000 cows, in early 2016. Within months of opening, Lost Valley was dinged for violating its permits. From there, the operation racked up several violations and a fine before the state finally tried to stop his ranch from continuing.

Te Velde is also being sued by at least four companies that helped build and run the farm. He pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamines in Washington last year.

In the midst of these lawsuits, Tillamook announced it had terminated its contract with Lost Valley, removing the bulk, if not all, of Lost Valley’s business.

However, it appears that did not stop Tillamook from paying te Velde and using Lost Valley’s milk.

“On a temporary basis, we continue to receive and pay for milk from the farm and are conducting extra testing to ensure the milk quality continues to meet our high standards,” Harms said.