AUGUSTA, Maine — A bill that would allow Maine dairy farmers to sell raw milk from their farms without complying with state safety and licensing rules won initial approval in the Maine House of Representatives on Monday.
If the bill, LD 312, is successful, it would be the first victory in a three-year effort by local food activists to ease regulations on the production and sale of raw milk in Maine.
The measure is sponsored by Rep. William Noon, D-Sanford. The version of the bill approved by the House on Monday would allow unlicensed, uninspected dairy producers to sell raw milk and raw milk products directly to consumers at their farms, but not at farmers markets or at stores.
“This bill is to help the little producers, the ones with two goats or one cow,” Noon said during a floor debate Monday.
The bill passed with an 80-67 vote.
Maine is one of 29 states where “raw,” or unpasteurized, milk is legal. But for years, some producers have lamented the facility requirements for state licensing and inspection, saying that the rules are not scale-appropriate and impossible to meet for smaller operations.
In 2013, an earlier version of the bill, which would have allowed small farms to sell raw milk directly to consumers without meeting state safety standards, was killed by a gubernatorial veto.
Last year, another bill to deregulate the small-scale raw milk sector was also vetoed by Gov. Paul LePage. A separate bill designed to deregulate face-to-face food sales between farmers and their customers — including those of meat, prepared foods and dairy — also failed in the Legislature.
A co-chairman of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee, Rep. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop, said Monday during a floor debate that he believed the version of LD 312 passed by the House would win the governor’s support.
He noted it already had the seal of approval from the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, which had been skeptical of earlier efforts to deregulate the industry.
“ACF testified in favor of this bill, because we put language in the exemptions that would allow them to be OK with it,” he said.
That language included provisions requiring exempted raw milk producers to take a dairy sanitation course and routinely test their water. The exempted dairy farmers must also clearly disclose that their farm is not inspected or licensed by the state and that its products are not pasteurized. They also are prohibited from advertising their raw milk products.
Finally, the department would retain authority over the unlicensed, uninspected facilities when investigating foodborne illnesses believed to be associated with raw milk.
Opponents of the bill said it would increase the amount of potentially unsafe dairy products in the market, which could lead to an increase in dairy-related illness. They also said that exempting small producers would put farmers who had invested in facilities that met the state’s safety standards at an unfair disadvantage.
“Raw milk is already available about anywhere you want in this state,” said Rep. Russell Black, R-Wilton. “This bill would hurt the small farmers who have already gone through the licensing process, and are trying to do things right.”
Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.
