Louisiana Senate Kills Bill Allowing Farmers to Sell Raw Milk to Consumers

A House-passed bill to permit the sale or distribution of raw milk by the farmer directly to a consumer is dead in the Louisiana Senate.

The lower chamber of the Louisiana Legislature easily approved House Bill 1279 on May 7 in a 78-19 vote. The favorable House floor vote came after the raw milk bill was recommended on a narrow vote by the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Aquaculture and Rural Development.  But the bill died last week in the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, which had safety concerns about unpasteurized milk. The move ends Louisiana’s “I Love Raw Milk” campaign for at least another year.  It was the first time in a decade that the Louisiana Legislature had seriously considered changing its restrictive raw milk policy, and public hearings on the issue sparked the usual grassroots lobbying by raw milk advocates. But, in the end, it died on a 4-1 Senate committee vote.  State Sen. Fred Mills (R-St. Martinville) was the only committee member to vote in favor of the measure. He tried to comfort disappointed supporters by explaining that “good legislation sometimes takes time.”