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Support Raw Milk in Montana with HB 245

Contact Your Montana Senator

Take Action

Talking Points

More Info

 

UPDATE: The final few votes on the Montana raw milk bill (HB 245) are coming soon in the full Senate. Last Friday, the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee passed the bill out of committee 5-2, with Senator Diane Sands (D) Missoula and Senator Jonathan Windy Boy (D) Box Elder as the two no votes.

 

Opposition is continuing to send misinformation to scare senators with the so-called dangers of raw milk, and they are making headway, so your participation is important. Please contact your Montana state senator (not your U.S. senator), and let him/her know why you support HB 245.

 

Please help to get this bill passed: There will likely be a vote on the bill this Saturday, so please contact your Montana state senator (not U.S. senator) now! This is just one of multiple stages for the bill.

 

For more information, see Talking Points and More Information below or contact Chris Rosenau at [email protected]

 

Please pass this alert on and ask others to do the same.
 Item1
Take Action - Contact Your Own State Senator

 

Call your Montana state senator (not your U.S. senator) at 406-444-4800 and leave a message. Urge him/her to do everything he/she can to move HB 245 forward!

 

Or send him/her a web mail at this link; just fill out the form to send a message to your legislator. 

  • Enter your name, address, email, etc
  • Select the legislator bubble and select your Montana state senator
  • Type in HB 245 for the bill number
  • Click on the "for" bubble to show you support raw milk
  • Include a short message as to why in the box below
  • Hit "send" and it will go to the selected legislator

There will likely be a vote on the bill this Saturday, so please contact your Montana state senator (not U.S. senator) now!
 

Don't know who your state senator is? Call your county clerk and recorder or the Montana Secretary of State at 406-444-2034 or find out here.

 Item2
Talking Points
  • We should have the right to make our own decisions as to what foods we choose for ourselves and our families.
  • Raw milk has a good overall track record for safety. People get sick from consuming vegetables, meat and pasteurized milk, yet these foods are not being banned.
  • The underground raw milk market will continue to grow unchecked if HB 245 does not pass.
 Item3
More Information

 

HB 245 creates a small herd exemption from the existing mandatory pasteurization requirements as well as from the cost prohibitive Grade A dairy construction and equipment standards. It allows a small farmer to have up to 7 lactating cows and 15 lactating goats or lactating sheep and sell raw milk. The farmer must have a permit. Milk can only be sold to people coming to the farm to buy it. Lactating animals must undergo yearly Tuberculosis testing and Brucellosis testing per current Montana state laws. Fluid milk and milk products will be tested eight times in a year (all animals' milk co-mingled together, not individual animals' milk tested). Signs and labels indicate at the farm and on the products that the product is unpasteurized.

 

The bill also allows Grade A dairies to sell raw milk directly to consumers who come to the farm. Since Darigold and Meadow Gold forbid the sale of raw milk and 99% of the dairies in MT are members of those pools, this would apply, in practice, only to the three independent dairies in the state, or to those dairies having the means and desire to leave the pools and become independent.

 

Updates will be posted on the Raw Milk Montana Facebook page. Please use this URL as many people are being directed to an inactive page that is not associated with this bill:

www.facebook.com/rawmilkmontana

 

For more information, contact Chris Rosenau at [email protected]

 


Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit [EIN 20-8605130], defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods. Learn more About Us or read the FTCLDF 2013 Summary

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Please forward this alert to others who are concerned about protecting locally-sourced nutrient-dense foods and preserving sustainable small family farms and artisan food producers as well as defending the rights to sell and to access the foods of one's choice from the source of one's choice.    

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