Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
STIRLING — Success is the reward for a stand-out farm that produces and sells excellent food directly to eager consumers. But beware, in Ontario, a stand-out, self-marketing farm is easy prey for anonymous complainers with an axe to grind and a provincial bureaucracy at their apparent beck and call.
Case in point is the Ontario Water Buffalo company, which has been dealing with the fallout of that unfortunate reality this year.
The specialty water buffalo dairy farm located north of Stirling has been subject to a string of anonymous complaints, including anonymous phone calls to the farm, that triggered visits by OMAFRA officials and the animal police and, ultimately, a bad-press campaign by animal rights activists at PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). A Toronto mozzarella maker and Loblaws severed all purchases from the farm in October as a result. The farm still has other sales and processing avenues for its milk, which continues to be turned into pasteurized fluid milk, gelato and other cheeses besides mozzarella.
Farmers Forum recently visited the operation where a steady stream of happy customers bought these products at the “Buff Stuff” farmgate store. They often opted to take a tour of the barns at the farm, which has an open-door policy. The animals appeared healthy and robust as they milled about in a modern free-stall environment with bedding pack.
“We have nothing to hide,” explains Lori Smith, who has run the farm in partnership with her husband, Martin Littkemann, since 2008. But the still ongoing ordeal has taken a toll. Smith said that this has been one of the most upsetting events of her life.
Water buffalo dairy farmers Martin Littkemann and Lori Smith say they have been unfairly targeted by animal rights activists.
Littkemann says the farm’s troubles began last fall when a batch of contaminated feed pellets caused 13 of their young animals to get sick and die from what turned out to be copper poisoning. Their vet initially thought it might be parasites, until testing later confirmed the real reason. Out of the blue in February, OMAFRA officials paid the farm a surprise visit to investigate a complaint about “a barnful of sick animals” and on-farm slaughter activity, he said
The farm sells water buffalo meat, but the butchering occurs at a licenced abattoir. “We don’t do on-farm slaughtering,” Littkemann said.
While the farm did process some meat into pepperettes, the rules allowed that practice as long as the pepperettes were made for a caterer whose income was 51% derived from catering in the previous year. But the involved caterer technically fell out of compliance because of depressed income during the pandemic. However, the rule was still enforced, and OMAFRA seized and destroyed the pepperettes, he said.
In March, officers with Ontario’s animal police — Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) — paid a visit and issued orders for the farm to add some extra bedding and trim some of the animals’ feet. The farm complied, though Littkemann says he was initially told he would need to engage the services of a “farrier” until he corrected the officer who agreed that a “hoof trimmer” was needed.
So far this fall, the farm has been twice visited by local health unit officials investigating anonymous, spurious allegations about the sale of unpasteurized milk in fluid form and in the farm’s popular gelato. However, all Ontario Water Buffalo fluid milk is pasteurized by a processor in Belleville, including the cream that goes into the gelato. Even the health inspector was unhappy to be visiting the farm for a second time on the issue, Littkemann said. “He’s pissed but somebody keeps complaining.”
Meanwhile, PETA launched a damaging media splash against the farm on its website. Smith suggests the original complainer got the American organization involved out of dissatisfaction with provincial authorities. “We got cleared, our name cleared, and then they went further and called PETA.”
PETA released photos that lack context to attack the farm, according to the owners. For example, the photo of a mud-covered calf was taken moments before the calf was washed with warm water in the milkhouse. The calf, being a water buffalo, naturally followed its mother into a mud hole before it was rescued by an employee who lost her rubber boots in the process.
Greg Flood, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General, confirmed for Farmers Forum in November that the farm was inspected and that PAWS “is now satisfied that all animal welfare concerns have been properly addressed and the business is in compliance with the standards of care under the PAWS Act.”
