Verburg operates Verburg and Son dairy west of Modesto, with 320 acres and 800 cows. He and about 300 other dairy farmers in Stanislaus County got a letter late last week from the county Department of Environmental Resources, informing them that they might qualify as dairy labor camps.

According to the letter, any dairy that provides housing for five or more employees is a labor camp, and must apply for a permit and pass an inspection.

Verburg has six houses for employees on his farm, so he qualifies. He will have to apply for a permit, pay $117, and get his housing inspected for things such as fire safety, structural soundness, plumbing and electrical compliance.

He vows to fight the program in court.

"This Dutchman is not going to roll over and play dead on this one," Verburg said. "This is just another freedom they are taking from us — or they think they will."

Milk is the No. 1 farm product in Stanislaus County and the San Joaquin Valley. Dairies generated $546.8 million in Stanislaus County in 2005, and an estimated $4.5 billion in gross income for the San Joaquin Valley.

The state law that governs employee housing on dairies has been on the books since 1962, but it hasn't been enforced in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, according to Sonya Harrigfeld, director of the Department of Environmental Resources.

The state Department of Housing & Community Development started enforcing the law in surrounding counties, Harrigfeld said, so her department sent the letters.

"We are implementing it roughly the same way San Joaquin County did," Harrigfeld said.

Reaction from the dairy industry Monday ranged from Verburg's vow to fight to resignation at another regulatory hoop to jump through.

Source: Modbee.com