YOUNGSVILLE — Farmer Rich Dirie figures the listeria sample that shut down his raw milk business earlier this month came from plain old dirt.

Rain had moistened the soil of his Youngsville farm, which then clung to the teats of his cows, and the usual peroxide cleaning dip apparently missed a spot.

A routine pathogen test by the NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets on October 21 revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that can cause flu-like symptoms in adults and more serious complications in children, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.

No illnesses were reported, but Dirie volunteered to suspend sales of raw milk on October 23 (though it wasn't until this past Tuesday that the state notified media of the concern).

“They'll be taking another sample this coming Tuesday,” confirmed Dirie.

If no bacteria is found, he'll be cleared to restart sales, though the state will continue testing samples for the next six weeks.

He's continued to ship milk to an upstate pasteurization plant (where any bacteria would be eliminated), but the loss of direct-to-consumer raw milk sales has hurt.

“We sell about 8-10 gallons a day,” Dirie remarked. “The extra money was kind of nice. Hopefully, we will get this worked out.”

Regular customers have told him they will return when raw milk sales restart, and he's confident the suspension (and its impact) will be short-term.

“We've been into this 4-5 years now and never had a problem,” Dirie affirmed.