Got (Raw) Milk?

SD residents who enjoy raw milk should take notice of HB1057 in the legislature this year.
After trying to create a policy that seems closer to China and Russia than the US, Bill Even retreated from his proposal after taking testimony regarding raw milk.

Here is the link to the SD Legislature for any who want to follow it.

South Dakota Legislature

Jolie do you know what committee will look at this bill first? Your comment about Bill Even is confusing. What proposal did he make and what testimony caused his retreat?

It behooves everyone to take an interest in their legislatures (both SD and MN) while they are in session. If we all pool our interests we can be better informed and better retain our freedoms.

This fall Bill Even (SD sec of ag), conducted a hearing to change the raw milk laws in SD. He wanted to make all people who sold raw milk to have a list of consumers, their contact info and how much milk they bought. There was a lot of resistance to the idea and he gave up the idea "for now". Then low and behold here comes HB 1057.
i will try and send a link to the original hearing.

Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 10:11 AM
Subject: Raw Milk Victory!

FROM:
DAKOTA RURAL ACTION
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING FOR THE FUTURE

On December 21, South Dakota Department of Agriculture Secretary Bill Even announced that state agriculture officials have withdrawn their proposed rules on selling of raw milk. These laws were imposing unnecessary burdens on the local farmers. "They were extreme rules that they would have imposed on us," said Lila Streff from Custer, South Dakota, according to a Rapid City Journal story. "I would hope to be able to sit down with them in the future and work with them to design some kind of a law that reflects what both sides are interested in." Secretary Even acknowledged in a letter to the Interim Rules Review Committee that his decision to withdraw was based on oral comments and conversations he had with citizens, health officials and staff along with written comments submitted by people. DRA would like to express gratitude and congratulations to all those who wrote letters, made phone calls and attended the hearing in Pierre. Your efforts have paid off and your voices have been heard. Keep up the good work! Dakota Rural Action is a grassroots family agriculture and conservation group that organizes South Dakotans to protect our family farmers and ranchers, natural resources and unique way of life.

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joelie
Do you have any information on how much support this bill might have? Most bills can be given a thumbs up or down early in the process by those in the know. If it looks like it may get out of committee and onto the floor, a counter argument has to be put together and legislators have to get educated on it.
My second immediate reaction is....why do they have to legislateB-2 bombers to swat flies in the first place? What's wrong with reasonable standards and having people sign a hold harmless agreement? As for lists -- these aren't prescriptions for drugs...it's milk. If there's a problem, they can follow the consumer thread at that point, just like they do for spinach and tomatoes. Sheesh.

I do not know what chance this bill has in pierre. i plan to find out, though.

This is all I could find on the bill so far. Anyone know who is on the Committee on Ag/NR? It is interesting that the Dept. of Ag requested this bill to be moved there considering that they withdrew it from their agenda. One wonders if they dropped it because they thought it was not a good idea or perhaps they decided to take it to a higher authority under the electorate? In any case we will have to keep an eye on it. The links in the "sticky post" on the South Dakota Politics page shows there is nothing going on at this time. But the session has hardly started.

House Bill 1057
The Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources at the request of the Department of Agriculture
ENTITLED, An Act to revise and update certain provisions relating to dairy production and inspection.
1/12/2010 First read in House and referred to House Agriculture and Natural Resources H.J. 28

Here's the link to the bill --
http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2010/Bills/HB1057P.pdf

You can look up the text and trace the progress of any bill in the current session by going to the site above, up to the /Bills portion. This will show you all the bills and resolutions introduced -- you can click on any bill to check progress.

I don't know how to paste it here so that you can see the line additions and deletions the bill proposes, but you can see them at the link.

The raw milk bill, HB 1057, will be heard by the house comittee on Tuesday February 16, 2010. There will be a meeting Monday night in Pierre.

Fresh Milk advocates can call one of the ag committee members or call the house lobby desk 224-5030 and leave a message for the committee. To see the list of Ag Committee members click here. Some local reps are Steve Street and Jason Frerichs. Give them a call and let your voice be heard.

The freedom of farmers to sell their produce to people who want farm fresh milk is being infringed upon. This is an attempt to take away our freedom to choose what we want to drink.