Statewide, dairy farmers reported about a 10% decline in milk production during that period.<\/p>\n
Lawyers with CRLA said they were pushing for greater transparency so they could track what various government agencies were doing to battle the virus and protect the public health, including that of dairy workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNonprofit organizations could use the location information to assist dairy workers in protecting themselves, veterinarians could better protect animals and researchers could focus on public health,\u201d according to court documents submitted by CRLA.<\/p>\n
David Cremins, an Equal Justice Works Fellow with CRLA, said Friday that the court\u2019s ruling undermines the transparency guarantees of the Public Records Act and the California Constitution by depriving agricultural workers and the broader public of information critical to protecting public health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are considering our options to assure the primacy of occupational health and workers\u2019 rights over industry interests,\u201d Cremins wrote in an email. .<\/p>\n
Judge Shelleyanne W.L. Chang acknowledges in her July 22 ruling that there is a public interest in knowing and understanding what the government is doing to protect the public during a statewide highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak.<\/p>\n
She also recognizes the interest in \u201ccertain watchdog groups reviewing the actions of governmental entities in responding to an HPAI outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the Court finds that the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of quarantined dairy locations during an HPAI outbreak is overwhelmingly significant and clearly outweighs the public\u2019s interest in disclosure,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
She agreed with Department of Food and Agriculture officials who said maintaining confidentiality with dairy operators was key to getting their cooperation, especially in reporting symptoms of sick cows.<\/p>\n
\u201cLoss of this trust would likely have a chilling effect, wherein producers would either delay reporting or not report clinical signs of disease,\u201d wrote Amanda Murray, California\u2019s acting state veterinarian and branch chief of Animal Health and Food Safety Services.<\/p>\n
Murray said that without trust, some dairy operators might have culled the animals themselves or disposed of them, potentially spreading the disease unintentionally.<\/p>\n
Anja Raudabaugh, chief executive officer of Western United Dairies in Turlock, praised the judge\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an important victory because farmers across the nation, not just in California, need to be able to trust health officials so that they actually can protect public health,\u201d Raudabaugh said. \u201cAnd the whole world is reeling a bit following COVID, and so making sure that farmers have a very secure and confidential process to report animal diseases up through the proper chain is really what actually protects our workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Payne, a veterinarian and outreach coordinator at the Western Institute of Food Safety and Security, said in an email that preventing onlookers from coming onto a quarantined dairy is an important part of maintaining biosecurity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny activity which hampers biosecurity practices like vehicle parking and tire disinfection, visitor sign-in and travel history, protective clothing, anything that interferes with those precautionary efforts increases the risk of disease transmission,\u201d Paine said. \u201cEach unannounced and uncoordinated visit to a farm during a disease outbreak, regardless of the visitor\u2019s intent, is the kind of uncontrolled movement between farms that biosecurity protocols are meant to prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0.jpg\")