Prompted by reports of foodborne illness, Pa. Agriculture Dept. conducted search at Amos Miller farm in Upper Leacock Township

• LNP|LancasterOnline Staff
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The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture said it executed a search warrant Thursday at an Upper Leacock Township farm as part of an investigation into two food-borne illness cases.

The announcement came hours after two state police vehicles and vehicles belonging to Agriculture Department were seen Thursday afternoon at property owned by an Amish farmer who has been involved in yearslong litigation with the federal government over food and meat inspection and health safety guidelines.

The farmer, Amos Miller, declined to speak with a reporter who visited the property. The reporter was asked to leave.

The Agriculture Department’s statement said it was notified by public health officials in New York and Michigan about illnesses reported in underage individuals who consumed raw eggnog and other raw dairy products from Miller Organic Farm. Both states said tests were positive for Shiga toxin producing E.Coli.

The department said the search warrant executed Thursday at Miller’s farm “sought, among other things, illegal raw milk and raw milk products, including eggnog.”

The agency said it would not comment further on an ongoing investigation, adding only, “Miller has never licensed his retail operation.”

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Previous Coverage: Lancaster County farmer Amos Miller, feds reach agreement concerning food safety, fines

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The incident was first publicized by the editor of The Lancaster Patriot, a website offering a mix of local news and Christian nationalist commentary.

News of the police presence at Miller’s farm drew heavy attention on social media, boosted by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, who posted on X: “Looks like Amos Miller’s farm is being raided. With all of the problems in society today, this is what the government wants to focus on? A man growing food for informed customers, without participating in the industrial meat/milk complex? It’s shameful that it’s come to this.”

For much of 2022, Miller and the U.S. government were in a standoff over his compliance with federal food safety rules and failure to pay assessed fines. At one point, Miller refused to follow through on previous agreements reached under a federal judge’s supervision. But the parties resolved the dispute by early 2023, and the federal court docket for Miller’s case shows it was closed in August.

In his legal fight, Miller at times sought to pursue a “sovereign citizen” strategy to thwart the government’s efforts to get him to comply.

Sovereign citizen adherents believe in the legally baseless assertion that individuals, and not courts or lawmakers, can decide what laws to follow.

Miller came to the attention of federal authorities in 2016, when the Food and Drug Administration said it identified listeria in samples of Miller’s raw milk and found it to be genetically similar to the bacteria in two people who developed listeriosis — one of whom died — after consuming raw milk.

That led to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service investigating and suing Miller over the meat and poultry issue in 2019, which led to the first agreement under which Miller was to follow federal food safety rules.

>> Staff writers Dan Nephin and Brett Sholtis contributed reporting for this story.