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December 08, 2009 |
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Holiday Gift Suggestions
NEW! T-Shirts, Bumperstickers & Buttons
Our new t-shirts designs were a big hit at the Weston A. Price Foundation conference. We sold out of several styles, but are now restocked and ready for your holiday shopping. Enjoy our gift of a 20% discount on t-shirts, bumperstickers and buttons. Our new organic shirts feel so soft and our new styles are so awesome, you'll have a hard time choosing! So, go ahead, buy $75 worth and we'll pay for the shipping. Start shopping here.
Fund Gift Membership
What do get for a farmer who's got everything? Buying clubs in Virgina have the answer. They took up donations at drop sites to buy both farmer and delivery man gift memberships/renewals in the Fund. What a great idea! Buy yours here.
NEW! Cow-Share College & Goat-Share University 2010 Schedule
Goat folks wanted their own operations class, and we listened. New in 2010 - Goat-Share Operations class, featuring instructor Sharon Wilson, from Natural Choice (Goat) Dairy. These teleseminars help farmers ramp up their share operations quickly and confidently. Register now for classes starting Thursday, January 7th. Register online
NEW! Chore Time DVD by Tim Wightman
If you are scaling down or just starting direct distribution of raw milk, then this DVD will save you time, money and a couple headaches. Tim condenses his years of experience (he was one of the first cow-share operators in the country) for your benefit. Consumers that watch will be amazed at how much thought, care and work go into a good glass of raw milk. This 2-DVD set is a great companion for the Raw Milk Production Handbook. Read more and buy here.
NEW! Safe Handling - Consumers' Guide by Peg Beals, RN
We're recommending this excellent resource to all raw milk consumers. Consumer handling for raw milk is an important part of our own safety triangle. Cow - farmer -consumer. Shop here.
NEW! Leap of Faith: Fastlane to Farmstead DVD
What would make two men leave their fast-paced lives in the city for 34 goats? Part of the proceeds from the sale of this award winning documentary benefit the Foundation. Read more here
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Raw Milk Bill Introduced in Wisconsin
State Representative Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau) and State Senator Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) have introduced a bill that would legalize the on-farm sale of raw milk and raw milk products in Wisconsin. Under the bill, any milk producer who has a Grade A dairy farm permit shall be issued a permit by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) upon the producer's request. Specifically, a milk producer may sell raw milk, buttermilk, butter and cream directly to a consumer on the producer's farm if all of the following requirements are met:
(1) the producer has a permit to sell raw milk and raw milk products,
(2) "either milk producer or the consumer provides a sanitary container for the product that has been prepared in a sanitary manner and the container is filled in a sanitary manner",
(3) at the place where products are sold, the milk producer displays a sign that is easy for a consumer to read and that states, "Raw milk products sold here. Raw milk products do not provide the protection of pasteurization."
The bill provides that a milk producer who sells a prouct in accordance with these requirements "is immune from civil liability for the death of or injury to an individual caused by the product, unless the death or injury was caused by willful or wanton acts or omissions."
Introduction of the bill comes at a time when DATCP has been steping up enforcement actions against those farmers the agency believes are selling raw milk. DATCP has issued orders to two dairies prohibiting them from making raw milk available to anyone not either residing or working on the dairy farm. The agency has indicated its policy will be to proceed against all farms it suspects of selling raw milk.
Many of the state's dairy farmers are desperately in need of the additional income that selling raw milk and raw milk products would provide. Prices being paid to farmers by dairy processors for milk have increased slightly in recent weeks but are still below the farmers' cost of production. There are more dairy farms in Wisconsin than in any other state in the country but that number is fast decreasing. According to Wisconsin's Agricultural Statistics Service as of the first week of November, there were 12,965 dairy herds in the state, a drop of over 500 herds from just a year earlier. In 1995 there were about 29,000 dairy farms in the state.
Wisconsin residents are urged to call their legislators and ask them to vote for the raw milk bill (currently identified as LRB 3242/3). Here's the link to find your legislators and call them directly: Find Your Legislator
In passing this information on to others without internet access, encourage them to call the Wisconsin Legislative Hotline. Hotline operators will take messages only for the Senator or Representative for the district in which the caller lives. If the name of the state legislator is not known, the operators can locate that information. For larger cities such as Milwaukee, Madison, or Green Bay, which have multiple
Representatives, it is helpful to know the ward in which the caller resides.
The Wisconsin Legislative Hotline can be reached at:
Local Madison Number 266-9960
Statewide Toll Free 800-362-9472
Hearing Impaired 800-228-2115
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South Dakota: SDDA Proposes Raw Milk Regulations
The South Dakota Department of Agriculture (SDDA) has issued proposed raw milk regulations. Even though the stated purpose for the proposed rules is to protect public health, the rules are an attempt by SDDA to ensure that no raw milk is sold legally in South Dakota. Under current law, the general prohibition on the sale of raw milk does "not apply to milk, cream, skim milk or goat milk occasionally secured or purchased for his personal use by any consumer at the place or farm where the milk is produced; neither does it "apply to any active farm producer of milk, selling and delivering his own production direct to consumers only." There is no requirement that a farm be a licensed Grade A dairy to be under these exceptions. The only requirement for those selling under the exceptions is that any unpasteurized milk sold be "clearly labeled by the producer as 'raw milk'."
The proposed rules, in effect, take away rights given by the legislature by imposing expensive requirements that those dairies wanting to sell raw milk would not be able to afford. The proposed rules are typical barriers-to-entry regulations that will create a defacto ban on the sale of raw milk. A further review of the provisions can be found online http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-08Nov2009-5.html.
A hearing was held on the proposed rules on November 17; 25-30 people spoke in opposition to the proposed rules while the only ones speaking in favor of the rules were South Dakota government employees. After the hearing, the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Bill Even indicated that he would probably modify the proposed rules but that opponents of the rules should not expected to get everything they want.
The next hearing on the rules is scheduled for December 21 before state Representatives and Senators who serve on the South Dakota Legislature's six-member Rules Review Committee. If the proposed rules are not adopted by January 12, 2010, they will expire and SDDA will have to initiate the rulemaking process again with the earliest the agency would be able to do so being April 2010.
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Missouri AG Files for Injunction Against Raw Milk Producer
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has filed a petition for both a preliminary and permanent injunction against Armand and Teddi Bechard, seeking an order from the Greene County Circuit Court enjoining Bechard Family Farm from delivering raw milk and cream to its customers at a central distribution point. Under state law, "an individual may purchase and have delivered to him for his own use raw milk or cream from a farm." The state's position is that any delivery of raw milk must be direct to the customer's home. The petition alleges that two separate purchases of raw milk from Bechard Family Farm were made by undercover agents working for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. The purchases took place in April of this year at the parking lot of Mama Jean's Natural Food Market in Springfield. According to the complaint, undercover agents "never ordered milk from Mr. and Mrs. Bechard or any representative of the Bechard Family Farm and therefore never requested that the milk be personally delivered to [them] from the farm," as permitted by state law.
The Bechard's contention is that the law does not limit delivery of raw milk and cream to the consumer's residence. All of the Bechards' customers want delivery to take place at a central distribution point. Those in support of the Bechards are urged to attend a January 12 meeting of the Missouri State Milk Board; raw milk will be on the agenda for the meeting in Jefferson City.
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