As Maine Wire reporter Edward Tomic detailed on Friday, agents from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) have ordered longtime poultry farmers Scott and Tracy Greaney to destroy 300 turkeys or else face ruinous financial penalties.
The Greaney Family Farm, in operation for more than 30 years, has never had this kind of trouble before. This year, however, DACF agents have decided that the Greaneys should destroy the birds or else face fines worth nearly $30,000.
The DACF claims that the Greaneys have run afoul of labeling and licensure requirements, which necessitates the wonton destruction of enough food to help feed 300-400 families just days before Thanksgiving.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement agreement that DACF and the Maine Attorney General’s Office have offered the Greaneys, they are not allowed to sell the birds, and they can’t even donate the birds to a local church or food pantry — even though everyone involved agrees there is nothing unsafe about eating the birds.
In addition, the Greaney must agree, as part of the settlement, to what amounts to a gag order on his right to criticize the government. Per the agreement, Greaney must “interact congenially and professionally with DACF staff and not engage in verbal or nonverbal communications or other intimidation tactics.”
For example, the agreement would probably prevent Greaney from saying something like, “In 2023, Commissioner Amanda Beal made $195,439, Director Craig Lapine made $145,001, Program Manager Jennifer Eberly made $118,838, Inspection Analyst Coordinator Michelle Newbegin made $91,346, Inspection Program Manager Benjamin Metcalf made $89,924, and Director Nancy McBrady made $185,147, and despite these lucrative salaries — well above the median salary for a Maine worker who actually produces value in the private sector — this DACF dream team can find nothing better to do with their time than to harass a rural Maine farmer who has fed people for going on 40 years without ever jeopardizing public health.”
Somehow, this whole episode of Petty Tyrants Gone Wild got even crazier on Tuesday.
Th new, infuriating detail emerged when Scott Greaney received in the mail a copy of a license from DACF — issue date: June 11, 2024; expiration date in April 2025.
As you can see from the below image of the license, any reasonable person would infer from this document that DACFs has granted Greaney’s Family Farm a license — good from June 11, 2024 to April 30, 2025 — to operate as a retail food establishment, to sell prepackaged meat for direct sale, and to operate as a commercial food processor, i.e. to sealed vacuum-sealed frozen poultry under 20,000 total units.
Greaney was in such a state of disbelief about the license that he contacted Craig Lapine, the Director of DACF’s Bureau of Agriculture, Food & Rural Resources, to ask whether the license was real and whether it meant that the 300 “detained” turkeys could actually be sold to hungry families.
The short answer is, no. The license, signed by DACF Commissioner Beal, is in fact worthless. Here’s Lapine’s response, according to a text message from Greaney Wednesday morning:
Scott, I’m responding to your text asking if you can sell the detained poultry because you claim to be in possession of a license covering the dates when you conducted the unlicensed slaughter and processing.
The answer is no.
As you know, you did not receive your commercial food processor license under the <20,000 bird exemption until October 30. That license, issued October 30, 2024, is marked “90 DAY CONDITIONAL LICENSE” with an expiration date of January 28, 2025 (90 days after October 30). That license is on p. 1 of the attachment.
Approximately two weeks after that license was issued, you passed additional inspections. We were then able to add additional authorizations under your retail food establishment license. The license with the additional authorizations is on p. 2 of the attachment. The issue date of June 11 on that license was automatically populated by our database and, erroneously, not manually corrected. The error notwithstanding, that license is also marked “90 DAY CONDITIONAL LICENSE” and also has an expiration date of January 28, 2025, making it clear that license was not in effect until October 30.
Per 22 MRS §2169 (below), the erroneous license is void and must be returned. We will issue you a corrected license.
I do appreciate you calling attention to our error. Let me know if you have additional questions.
Craig Lapine, Director
Maine Bureau of Agriculture, Food & Rural Resources
# # #
Scott, the image you texted me is of license with serial number 166579. That is not the license I believed we were discussing when you first texted me. Nevertheless, it remains true that it was issued error, is not valid, and must be returned.
Our system documents that serial number 166579 was created and printed on November 20, 2024. That tracks given that your original text indicated Tracy had received it today. It reflects the fact that the retail food authorizations were added to your license on November 15 based on Tracy’s commitment to get ServSafe certified.
To summarize, your license to allow meat processing became valid on October 30. You should have evidence of that with license serial number 166282 which we can confirm was printed on November 1. Your authorization to offer baked goods became effective November 15. We need to reissue you a corrected license with that information because the license printed on November 20 has incorrect dates. All of your authorizations have been conditionally granted and expire January 28, 2025.
As you know, your attorney is in possession of our proposed settlement agreement. I hope we will have a chance to discuss and finalize the terms of that soon.
Craig Lapine, Director
Bear in mind: Nowhere in the original “settlement agreement” that DACF proposed to Greaney is there any mention of a danger to the public. None of Greaney’s turkeys have tested positive for foodborne illnesses. We’re not talking about an eminent risk of bird flu. Instead, the government agents have discovered picayune labeling violations and violations of a license issuance policy THAT EVEN DACF DOESN’T APPEAR TO UNDERSTAND.
The existence of a misprinted and mistakenly issued license now raises further questions. For example, how many other Maine farmers right now are producing food thinking they have the right license when, in fact, the license was issued “by mistake” by the geniuses at DACF? Will these mistakenly issued licenses, if discovered, allow the DACF to descended upon other food producers like a cloud of locusts and demand smiles and fees and deference?
The settlement agreement also reveals another unsettling fact about the extent to which that DACF agents have been stalking Greaney as part of this ordeal: The agreement indicates that government employees are routinely scouring Greaney’s Facebook page for images that suggest he may be in violation of obscure rules the DACF is tasked with enforcing.
Here are some images from the proposed settlement agreement that DACF has offered to Greaney, including the term that Greaney must act “congenially” toward the government agents or else face a fine of nearly $30,000.
For convenience, here’s a re-publication of the story Edward Tomic published on Friday, Nov. 22 concerning the TurkeyGate affair:
Just a week before Thanksgiving, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) demanded that a longtime Somerset County poultry farmer destroy over 300 turkeys for allegedly running afoul of labeling regulations, and required that the farmer “interact congenially” with state officials or pay a nearly $30,000 penalty, according to a settlement agreement obtained by the Maine Wire.
Scott Greaney, co-owner with his wife Tracy of Greaney’s Turkey Farm in Mercer, told the Maine Wire that despite his farm previously not having any issues with DACF in their 43 years of operation, state inspectors from DACF began making visits to his processing facility starting in late May of this year, issuing violations to the farm and claiming that they were out of compliance with certain licensing requirements.
Greaney said that earlier this week, DACF and the Maine Attorney General’s Office sent the farm a settlement agreement with a laundry list of demands, including the destruction of nearly 400 turkeys and chickens, and requiring that the farm “interact congenially” with DACF staff under threat of a $28,700 civil penalty.
According the nine-page settlement agreement, on Oct. 22, DACF officials detained and embargoed 314 turkeys and 60 chickens from the farm, citing labeling issues on the farm’s poultry products, including incomplete addresses, missing weight information, and improper use of “not for sale” stickers.
The agreement between Greaney’s Turkey Farm and DACF, along with the Office of the Attorney General, outlines stringent conditions the state is requiring the farm to meet in response to the alleged violations.
Central to the agreement is a $28,700 civil penalty, of which $25,830 will be suspended if Greaney’s complies with all terms of the agreement over the next five years.
Among those conditions are for Greaney’s to provide the state proof of education in poultry processing and sanitation, limiting operations to a single poultry exemption for five years, and that all of the birds detained on Oct. 22 — 314 turkeys and 60 chickens — must be “destroyed under the supervision of QAR [DACF Quality Assurance & Regulations] personnel.”
The agreement also appears to impose behavioral restrictions on Greaney’s, stating “Greaney’s must interact congenially and professionally with DACF staff and not engage in abusive verbal or nonverbal communications or other intimidation tactics so as not to obstruct DACF from completing their work.”
Under the agreement, any non-compliance, “as determined by DACF or [the Attorney General’s Office] in their sole discretion,” may result in enforcement action against Greaney’s by the state and the collection of the full $28,700 fine.
“While DACF and the OAG have no present intent to pursue enforcement…so long as Greaney’s is in compliance with the terms of this Agreement, by signing and executing this Agreement, Greaney’s knowingly, intentionally, permanently, and irrevocably waives any and all defenses Greaney’s has or may have with respect to the enforcement of this Agreement,” the settlement reads.
Greaney told the Maine Wire that he has hired legal representation to challenge the state’s actions, and has obtained a 30-day extension regarding the settlement agreement.
Greaney added that he is looking for potential avenues to donate the 314 turkeys, which he is still keeping frozen.
“We cannot comment on this pending enforcement matter,” said Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher Taub of the Maine Attorney General’s Office on Friday.
The Maine Wire has also reached out to a DACF spokesperson and the manager of the department’s poultry inspection program, Jennifer Eberly, for comment on the matter.
The Maine Wire has submitted a list of questions to DACF along with a Freedom of Access Act request that might shed some light on how the department operates, why they suddenly decided to visit this bureaucratic meddling upon a turkey farm in Mercer, and how exactly it happens that the department manages to send out a signed and sealed permit by accident.
Since we’re accustomed to various parts of the Gov. Janet Mills administration disregarding the Freedom of Access Act law and finding ways to frustrate, delay, and ignore basic journalistic inquiry, we’ll go ahead and post the questions we put to DACF here for public consumption:
1. What public health interest is being served here? Who is DACF helping?
2. Has DACF ever ordered another farmer to be “congenial” towards its staff? Is the DACF staff aware that the First Amendment allows a broad range of free speech, including free speech that hurts the feelings of government employees, e.g. giving “the bird” to cops?
3. A DACF representative told a state lawmaker that Mr. Greaney made violent threats toward DACF staff. Do you have a police report? Was that violent threat recorded anywhere? Why is there no mention of that violent threat in any of the documentation? Why is the violent threat only something that a lawmaker learned off after a DACF representative reached out to a state lawmaker? If there’s no proof of the alleged violent threat, then why would a DACF staffer tell a state lawmaker that there was? If it turns out that there was, in fact, no violent threat, will there be any discipline for the staff member who made the misleading comment to a state lawmaker?
4. As you know, Mr. Greaney received a license with an effective date of June 11. You claimed in your response to Scott that the June 11 license DACF sent to Greaney was sent accidentally. How often does that happen? How many accidental licenses are currently sitting at farms without DACF’s knowledge? Is DACF’s position that Mr. Greaney just happens to be the only farmer in Maine who has ever received a license like this accidentally? Was DACF unaware of the pending license issuance when they were penalizing Scott for not having said license?
5. In your response to Scott, you claim that the June 11 license was sent accidentally and is in fact a 90-day temporary license, but this is false. The license clearly states that the expiration date is April 30, 2025. Why are you making claims about the license that are contradicted by information on the license? Why are you asking him to return the license?
6. Given all of the uncertainty here on DACF’s part – not knowing that it was sending out licenses, claiming licenses are temporary when they are not, penalizing someone for a license that was actually active as of June 11, giving multiple explanations for why this is happening privately, etc… Why hasn’t DACF apologized for the error and rescinded this entire order and allowed Scott to continue operating safely as he has for nearly four decades?
7. Mr. Greaney alleges that political and/or personal motivations have played a role in the harassment he is receiving. Indeed, he made contact with DACF well before the current license imbroglio began to express his concerns, as I’m sure my public records request will help show. Has DACF done any investigating to determine whether this is the case? What safeguards does DACF have in place to make sure that DACF employees aren’t engaging in this kind of behavior?
Is this what the AG & Mills & Co are going to do to try to make up for their billion $ shortfall?
Harass small businesses, require fines and try to squash 1st amendment rights?
Frey seems to have lots of time on his hands if he’s doing this and trying to sue oil companies.
Desperate people.
The farm should be covered by the new Maine Constitution Section 25. They sell directly to the consumer, and I don’t think the State has the authority.
Another example of out-of-control, incompetent, dim-witted , petty bureaucracy strangling the private sector.
Was 16.5 lb. bird I purchased and received on 11/23 one of the 313 frozen after processing? This is an awful example of bureaucratic arrogance, incompetance an overreach. Maybe it is time for the whole second. district to go to the capitol
what these Nazi goons forget , is that they work for us, not the other way around. What a bunch of crackpots, what the heck is the deal with blackmailing people? They are all going down and going down hard… where were these idiots when we were being poisoned with the jab? Maine has totally lost it, this gov’t is nuts. President Trump , are you seeing this?????
51 years old, been here my whole life.
I barely recognize the state I grew up in.
Our lawmakers and politicians are an embarrassment.
Thanks to them, I find it hard to say, I’m proud to be a “Mainer”
Augusta is OUT OF CONTROL .
Overpaid .Overpaid . Overpaid bureaucrat liberal snots exerting their POWER to screw a little hardworking guy trying to make an honest living .
What a bunch of BS !
These ass hole democrats need to be kicked out and replaced before they run us right over the cliff . I am embarrassed to say I am from Maine . I hope this guy gets himself a lawyer ! Is there a go fund me page anywhere that I can contribute to ?
BS LIKE THIS HAS TO STOP !
I think its safe to say , that if hadn’t had those Trump signs around his house this would never have been a problem. This is how vindictive the crazy left loon people are. By the way where are the Republican leadership in this State, this is the same thing that the crazy left did down in PA with the Amish selling raw milk. WE NEED FULL FOOD SOUVERTIY
Typical buffoonery and gross incompetence from the woke, socialist Mills administration. Ridiculous antics and not amusing.
Unbelievable waste of resources, time, and money. The decision makers in this disaster should be fired.
Give democrats power and THIS is what you can expect .
We are going to hell in a hand basket .
The hand basket was woven by the indigenous people of T2 R 4 but they didn’t have a permit to weave those baskets so it will be confiscated and given to food insecure Somalis in Lewiston .
You can’t make his stuff up . WTF is happening in Augusta .
What if he donates the poultry to a zoo for carnivores to eat?
Actually I want him to get a good lawyer and fight this, but meanwhile they’ll need a lot of freezer space to save the meat for later.
I would just ignore the state. They sent you a valid license to sell them. But that’s just me.
Auntie Janet Auntie Janet
Make it stop !
The Mean Turkey Man called us names !
Save us from the Mean Turkey Man ….Make him be nice !
We need to have a therapy room with soft puppies and cookies !
The man said bad things !
This situation smells like unjust retribution by the DACF and the Maine Attorney General’s Office for some perceived slight,which I hope is adjudicated fairly. The State’s demand that the birds be destroyed rather than used as food is unconscionable. It’s no wonder that the fiscally incompetent Democraps in power have caused a $billion dollar deficit. These bureaucraps need to be removed from office..
Look this country has given and given across the last fifty yrs . Time to pay up so the normal people have suffered by this government horrible decisions ruining our economy. Now it’s time to get paid back. Like it or not. If these countries think they can dump these tariffs on us then it’s time to make things here again . We are not here to support the world anymore on the backs of ordinary citizens. So now things must change to help fix things needed by this country.
It is quite apparent who the turkeys are in this fiasco. I’m ready to pay the Greaneys twice their normal price to get a bird from them.
Is this Maine Governor and the State she “runs” f up. It is a wonder we still have food. The deep state is alive and well in Maine.
I agree that this is absolute B.S from a bunch of power hungry, stupid bureaucrats. However, it’s very funny to see all you Trumptards complaining about the government using their power for retribution and to screw someone over, which is exactly what your orange-haired god has said he was going to do. You poor little snowflakes. You reap what you sow.
Gee – perhaps these are the New York fools that slaughtered Peanut the Squirrel and then took the wrong exit on 95 – winding up in Maine.
I was born handicapped and grew up in Maine. I learned very young what dishonest, incompetent and overpaid people ran the state. So sad to see that all these years later nothing has changed. The poor Greaneys!
We REALLY NEED to get rid of these ignorant scumbags who run this state. I feel so bad for these people, 40yrs this family has been doing this but now all of a sudden they are targeted. I hope these officials ROT IN HELL !!!
Is this photo a real photo at the farm in question? It looks very AI-ish. Last report I had was the turkeys were in the freezer. There appear to be many more than 300 turkeys in this photo. If it’s a fake or from some other event it seriously damages the credibility of this story.
I truly feel for this farmer. Back in the 90’s I nuilt a dep plant to clean clams. I even put in a laboratory to test the process and product. The system ran for 3 years and was also tested by the dmr weekly and never had a problem. All test passed. I spent over $150,000.00 to build and develop the first inland facility in the world that actually worked using the same water for the 3 years. I then had the system patented and approved. That’s when the fda stepped in and told the state to shut me down. Did the state side with me nòoooooo. So I understand all about our fine great goverment in augusta. They are plain hippocrits all of them. I hope that farmer takes them to court and sticks it to them.
So the six clowns at DACF earn $825,000 in salary from an office that likely consumes about a million dollars a year from OUR tax money .
What is wrong with this picture .
Things really do need to change in Maine.
Someone that knows how, should start a go fund me, raise the 30k and have them donate the birds while the state cries about not being able to do a darn thing
George
This is absolutely outrageous!
How many millions of turkeys were sold and consumed years before the state saw fit to stick their noses into people’s businesses. If his turkeys are good as the information suggests.. leave business people in peace. Oh, maybe because it produces $$ for Maine’s bloated bureaucracy. State inspectors..go home. Shut the light on your way out…
This is absolutely horrendous! 43 years in business and now this? They sholud let them donate these turkeys and chickens. Nothing was wrong with them. DACF is bullying this Family!!!!!
It’s time to Hold These out of control Idiots Accountable for there CRIMES. Please go to TACTICAL CIVICS watch the 11 minute Video . It explains How in the 3143 countys we need to BRING BACK the COUNTY GRAND JURY’S and a STANDING REGULATED MALISA it’s in the constitution it’s our Right it is Happening all over this country 1800 plus county’s so far Remember the first three BOLD WORDS in the CONSTITUTION -WE THE PEOPLE We As Americans Have Taken our eye off the ball It’s time to go to work and get these politicians Attention . And if any of them think they are going to violate any of our rights we’ll put them in front of the Grand jury Then throw them in jail . PLEASE check out TACTICAL CIVICS . Time to take this country Back WWG1WGA. No more
This is ridiculous! Let the people sell their birds!
This is absolutely disgusting. I pray they fight the entire way and win.
Mills for Senator-NOT
This is government overreach .they are making no sense.time for every citizen to take a good look at our government .then get rid of these idiots.they are not here to help or protect us .it’s time to vote them out forever.stop voting with your heart and use your brain.
https://www.themainewire.com/2024/11/turkeygate-infuriating-new-development-in-state-of-maines-quest-to-destroy-perfectly-good-turkeys/#comment-95394
It’s clearly ‘AI’ generated, but the rest of the story is likely is not.
Have 317 “friends” drive in to get a turkey that you are giving to your “friend”. It’s not a gift, it’s not a donation, it’s just a bird you’re giving to a friend.
If I have a beef farm, and I want to ” GIVE” my friend some beef, I do not need a license “TO GIVE”. If I’m donating, I may need something. There is no law anywhere that says you have to have a license to give a friend anything !
Againthis just seems to bring to light that this whole administration is manned by what would be called useless POS’s . Absolutely disgusting reprehensible POS!
Government at its most inefficient, useless, overpaid bureaucratic waste of time and brainless bags of skin. Terminate all of them from the top down and send them to work with Trump for life.
They deserve this for eternity!! This is why people hate government.
Thought Maine was better than that. There’s been issues in the past but seriously……… with the trouble we have with our food chain, leave these great farmers alone.
Sounds like the American people need to stand together and add the DACF to the list of places that need to be burned to the ground when we take our country back.
Is this fake or AI generated? Numerous spelling and gramatical errors, photos are fake. Everything is suspect .
Fk the goverment
First off,this is a waste of food. There are so many people starving in this country due to extra spending for other countries,(Ukraine),and immigrants here… All the money they’ve been given,cash & food stamps. What about your fellow citizens? What about the farmers that fed and cared for these animals so they can be brought to market? Now they wasted animals can’t even be donated? Blasphemy.This is a true disgrace,and just the beginning of the famine that’s going to strike this country.