Despite Drawbacks, Raw Milk Law Better in Missouri Than Some Other States

Sting operations against dairy farmers notwithstanding, Missouri has better raw milk policy than some states do. For example, Wisconsin bans all raw milk sales, including the practice of selling shares in a cow in exchange for future delivery of milk. (Selling raw milk from a farm is legal in Missouri.) A few Wisconsin farmers do sell milk through cow-shares — that’s what it’s called — because they successfully petitioned state regulators for exceptions to the law.

And Oregon restricts raw milk sales to farms raising three or fewer cows. One blogger writes that the regulations prompted her to arrange for some of her cows to live on a neighbor’s land. Oregon also forbids dairy farmers to advertise raw milk; for that reason, the section of her website for raw milk customers is password protected.