At odds with the state, Amish milk farmer has long day in court

An Amish raw milk farmer in southern Pennsylvania may have a glimmer of hope to escape an injunction he says will put him out of business and hurt customers all over the country who depend on his products for medical reasons.

For a while on February 29, a Lancaster County judge seemed inclined to extend the injunction, based on the fact Amos Miller has refused to obtain state permits required to sell raw milk and cheese. But at the very end of the hours-long hearing, Judge Thomas Sponaugle seemed open to at least trying to find a path to letting Miller remain in business as he attempts to prove the state has no right to shut him down.

The state did just that earlier this year, obtaining the preliminary temporary injunction after two out-of-state residents became sick from raw milk products the state says came from Miller’s farm.