Page 92 - Summer2015

RAW MILK UPDATES By Pete Kennedy, Esq.

2015 has been a productive session for legislation increasing access to raw milk (See Wise Traditions Spring 2015).
While there is still resistance to raw milk legislation, opposition has declined overall around the country. With recent
deaths due to the consumption of cheese and ice cream made with pasteurized milk, raw milk opponents’ arguments
about food safety aren’t getting the traction they once had. Five states passed laws positively affecting the ability of
consumers to obtain raw milk and raw milk products; they are as follows:

OREGON
On May 12, Governor Kate Brown signed legislation that lifted an advertising ban on raw milk sales. House Bill 2446
stemmed from a 2014 settlement between dairy farmer Christine Anderson and the Oregon Department of Agriculture
(ODA) over a lawsuit challenging the state law prohibiting advertising. Under the terms of the settlement ODA agreed
not to enforce the ban contingent on the legislature passing a bill during the 2015 session that repealed the advertising
prohibition. If no bill had passed, the agency would have immediately resumed enforcement. The Anderson settlement
and new law should serve as a deterrent against other states enacting or enforcing similar bans.

SOUTH DAKOTA
Prior law allowed the sale of raw milk on the farm and at farmers markets; Senate Bill 45 (SB 45), which was signed into
law in March, expands sales of raw dairy to include cream but now limits where producers can sell raw milk to on the
farm and through delivery (including farmers markets). The new law benefits producers by creating a new category:
raw milk for human consumption. The South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) is assigned to issue govern-
ing regulations for this category. Prior to SB 45’s passage, raw milk producers were subject to regulations that were
originally written for Grade A dairies and manufactured milk producers. Raw milk supporters have pointed out that
raw milk produced for direct consumption and raw milk produced for pasteurization are two different products. SB 45
acknowledges this difference. Rules SDDA has proposed for the new category do not have, among other things, some of
the more onerous physical facility requirements that Grade A dairies and milk manufacturing plants must comply with.
An interesting aspect of the proposed regulation is that while it requires testing for coliform bacteria, which all raw
milk licenses throughout the country test for, South Dakota does not set any standards for coliform levels. SDDA will
monitor producers’ coliform levels but they won’t take punitive action against producers for their coliform counts. In
Pennsylvania, producers have been fined for coliform counts above the legal limit. The South Dakota proposal is more
in line with the thinking of those who believe coliform testing is not a good indicator of milk safety. The proposed
regulations are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2015. A work group consisting of, among others, raw milk producers,
consumers, and SDDA officials worked on the drafting of both the bill and proposed regulations.

UTAH
In March, Governor Gary Herbert signed House Bill 104 into law. HB 104 partially lifts the state’s herdshare ban by
allowing the distribution of raw milk through “cow-share programs if there are no more than two cows, ten goats and
ten sheep per farm.” Utah banned herdshares through legislation passed in 2007. The licensed on-farm sale of raw milk
has long been legal in the state but the number of licensed dairies has dropped substantially the past twenty years,
a factor that increased the chances of passage for HB 104. In spite of the bill only applying to micro-dairies, HB 104
drew significant opposition from the Utah dairy industry and Farm Bureau with the latter opposing the legislation right
until the end. Four individuals did the bulk of the work on the bill from start to finish; farmer Symbria Patterson, her
daughter Sarah, farmer Paula Millby and Conner Boyack, who is the president of the Libertas Institute. The Pattersons
were a study in perseverance; commuting two hundred miles twice a week from their farm to Salt Lake City to lobby.
For the last two weeks of the legislative session, the Pattersons did not leave the capital. Tragically, Symbria’s husband,
Lynn, who had been maintaining their farm and CSA, passed away on the evening the bill was signed.

VERMONT
On May 28, Governor Peter Shumlin signed House Bill 484 (HB 484) into law. The bill is a measure that changed a
number of Vermont’s agricultural laws including provisions amending the state’s raw milk statutes. Under the existing
two-tier system, producers now can sell more raw milk each week (i.e., increased from two hundred eighty up to
three hundred fifty gallons) if they comply with additional requirements on matters such as inspection, registration and
testing. Another significant change in the law is that raw milk producers will no longer have to test their cows annually

92 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2015 Wise Traditions

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