An attempt to ban herdshares by the Wyoming Department of Agriculture has resulted in Governor Matt Mead ordering the department to issue a rule expressly legalizing herdshares. Here’s a report from FTCLDF member Frank Wallace, whose sister is state representative Sue Wallis.
We have a win in Wyoming! The Wyoming Department of Agriculture has announced the decision on the proposed rule on who may use the raw milk from a dairy animal.
Previously the rule/law in Wyoming was quite draconian and quite unenforceable stating, “Unpasteurized milk and products made from unpasteurized milk (except cheese qualifying under subsection (d)) may not be sold, delivered, served, or provided for human consumption.”
The department was instructed by our Governor to rewrite the rule/law so that folk with milk cows/goats could legally drink the milk from their animals and to be able to legally feed it to their families.
The new proposed rule was as follows, (and referring to the previous rule):
- (i) This subsection does not apply to individuals who obtain milk from animals solely owned by them, members of their family, or their employer and who furnish raw milk or products made from raw milk only to members of their family or nonpaying guests.
As you know, there are several existing cow- and goat-shares operating in Wyoming, when the share holders became aware of the new rule and the word “solely” the manure hit the fan. The department was forced to hold four public hearings around the state. In each of these hearings, not a single person spoke in favor of the new rule. Every single person demanded that the word “solely” be removed and that if the government went ahead with the rule with the word “solely” then according to the Wyoming Constitution, the government would likely be required to compensate the share owners for the taking of use of their property.
Please see the attached announcement that the word “solely” will be removed from the rule/law and now we can legally offer raw milk to our family and guest and multiple ownership of cows is now specifically allowed in Wyoming.
Update 1/14/2013
Wyoming Food Safety Rule, Chapter 3 (Food Care), Section 8(g)(i) has been amended to read:
- This subsection does not apply to individuals who obtain milk from animals owned by them, members of their family, or their employer and who furnish raw milk or products made from raw milk only to members of their family or non-paying guests.