Waited all summer for the inspector
It was not possible to make goat cheese this summer in Ytri-Fagradalur farm, because the application was not processed until mid September. mbl.is/Ásdís
“This is not good, but what I have achieved in the summer is the experience I have gained in milking goats, so it will be a little easier next summer,” says Halla Sigríður Steinólfsdóttir, a farmer in Ytri-Fagradalur in Skarðsströnd, in an interview with Morgunblaðið.
Steinólfsdóttir sent in an application to MAST, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority, in June, for an audit of its facilities for processing goat’s milk. However, the application was not processed from the agency until late and the MAST representative finally appeared in mid-September.
Financial loss
“I look ahead, although it’s certainly a financial loss for me. If I could have sold the products, something could have been made of this. The experience cannot be taken away from me though, I need to focus on that, but it’s certainly awful,” she says.
She says that the MAST representative contacted her and told her what the next steps would be and how to proceed next year as well as that acknowledging that this procedure was less than ideal.
Will have goat cheese next summer
“I’ve stopped milking the goats. The inspector came on the same day I stopped,” she says, “but in Ytri-Fagradalur is a sheep farm and she had made a small area in the sheep house for milking the goats, but that area cannot be used for that any longer.
“But I’m ready for the next year. I’ve got this inspection, though I haven’t got the paper in my hand yet. It’s definitely clear that there will be goat cheese next summer,” says Steinólfsdóttir and is hopeful that next summer will surpass this one.
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