Washington’s $2.8B ‘Crazy Farm’ may be on the verge of closure, state officials say

Posted October 05, 2018 08:05:09 The Crazy Farm was a $2 billion dairy farm in Washington State that once housed thousands of cows and goats.
It was closed last year after federal officials said the facility posed a threat to public health.
Now the owner of the dairy farm is under federal investigation.
ABC News has learned the investigation has begun into the operations of the farm.
“We’ve received information from the Department of Agriculture that indicates the Crazy Farm may have violated the Animal Welfare Act by failing to provide humane conditions and the animal welfare regulations of the Department,” said Julie Mims, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Mims said that while the investigation is still in its early stages, the agency is concerned that “there may be potential for further violations.”
“The Department of HHS has requested that the facility be closed, which will be done pursuant to the Animal Cruelty and Abuse Act,” Mims wrote in a letter to the owner.
“This includes the removal of all animals and any food waste.”
The owner of Crazy Farm said he’s had no further communication from the state.
He says he has been cooperating with the federal investigation and is considering an appeal.
“I’ve done everything possible, but the process is not yet over,” said Kevin Tipton.
“The process is really about the state and our responsibility as consumers.”
Tiptons lawyer says he hopes to appeal the federal court ruling.
TiptON says he and his wife own the farm for a little more than a year and that he’s paid the bills for that time.
Tippons farm has been the focus of a number of recent headlines.
Temptations of ‘The Farm of the Future’ By ABC News’ Jennifer Stirling, Washington Bureau Chief: Tiptón and his family are not alone in their quest for a dream farm.
Dozens of families across the country are now dreaming of their own crazy farm.
Here are some of the most recent news stories about crazy farms.
The Farm of Tomorrow: “We’re trying to create a farm that’s the perfect place to live and farm,” said Tiptones wife, Amanda.
“There’s a lot of different kinds of people in this country.
We’re all different types of people.”
The Farm on the Edge of the World: The Crazy Horse Farm has a unique twist: it’s actually a horse farm that has become an international tourist attraction.
“People come from all over the world to come and see the crazy farm, but we’ve never done anything like this,” said Amanda Tiptonis.
“So far we’ve had people from Germany, from Spain, from India, from Mexico, from Brazil.
We’ve even got a couple of Chinese people that have come.”
The Horse Farm: In 2014, the family of Amanda Tippon made a dream come true when they purchased a ranch on the edge of the world for $2 million.
They called it The Horse Ranch.
They bought the property because the land on which the farm is located is about 3,000 feet (900 meters) above sea level.
“It was like a cave, but it’s not,” said Mims.
“When we were looking at this property, we said ‘this is an amazing property.'”
Amanda and her husband, Kevin, have been raising cattle and goats on the farm ever since.
They now live in the middle of a national park that was designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a national monument in 2018.
“That’s the land that we have here, we are going to make it a permanent sanctuary for our horses and we are not going to let the government take it away from us,” said Justin Tiptonics son, Connor.
“Everything we do here is sustainable, we have a beautiful ranch, we’ve got a beautiful cattle ranch, and we’ve also got an amazing sheep ranch.”
The Tiptonian’s Dream Farm: The Tippones have a dream to become the largest farm in the world.
The farm will have everything from cows to goats, sheep, and chickens.
“What we really want is to be able to do a million or more animals and raise all that kind of stuff,” said Stephanie Tiptoni.
“And we’re going to be doing it on the land we own.
That’s the way it’s supposed to work.”
The farm is currently operating under a lease that expires in 2025.
Mimi, the director of state health and human services, says the state is currently negotiating a new lease with the Tiptone’s.
She says she’s not sure when a new agreement will be reached.
The state will also be looking to sell some of its land on the Crazy Horse property.
The Tiphons will be staying put on the property for now.