Sheep rancher clashes with feds

A Temecula-area rancher is in a dispute with federal officials over a program created to eradicate the sheep and goat version of mad cow disease. Natalie Redding, of Namaste Farms, alleges mismanagement and a lack of communication by those running the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Scrapie Flock Certification Program. She contends that officials said she complied with the program's requirements, then told her the opposite years later. The program aims to prevent and eliminate scrapie, a deadly disease that affects sheep and goats, by certifying flocks that meet certain conditions as disease-free. Redding's farm produces expensive, high-quality wool and yarn. To prevent scrapie, the USDA has a mandatory monitoring program. Since 1992, the agency also offers what it describes as a voluntary certification program that requires ranchers to keep records of sales, births and deaths in their flock. As part of the program, Redding said a veterinarian inspected her flock annually. She said the veterinarian signed her off as compliant during her first inspection without doing a thorough inspection of her flock or verifying her recordkeeping. Redding said her flock also passed its second and third yearly inspections. But this year, she said she told by a state official that an audit of veterinarian records found "huge, giant gaps" in the paperwork for her and other ranchers. Soon after, she said she went on USDA's website and "flipped out" after seeing her farm's suspended status. It was the first she heard of it, Redding said. It took three weeks with an attorney's help to get the listing removed, she said. Redding said she's "livid" at how she's been treated and that it's hard to get a hold of anyone with the program...more