Senate Bill 2028 allows producers to sell up to 1,500 gallons of raw milk directly to customers each month. Previously, the cap was 100 gallons.
Although raw milk must only be sold on the farm where it's produced, the measure does not prohibit the advertising of raw milk products.
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the measure increasing the allowable amount into law this month..
"To all the raw milk-drinkers out there: Fantastic," Stitt said in a social media video, swigging from a glass of milk. "Tastes like freedom."
The new law requires raw milk and its products to be sold with a label notifying consumers that they are not regulated, licensed or inspected. Unlike milk sold at the grocery store or most farmers markets, raw milk is unpasteurized, meaning the milk has not been heated for a set amount of time to kill off pathogens.
One of the bill's author's, Sen. Jonathan Wingard, R-Ada, said small family farms are vital to rural Oklahoma in a press release.
"Under this new law, we're trusting Oklahomans to make their own informed decisions without government getting in the way," Wingard said. "This will make it easier for consumers to find and support local dairies that sell raw milk."
The bill sailed through the House of Representatives and unanimously passed the full Senate.
Another measure addressing commercial milk did not make it to Stitt's desk.
Senate Bill 2071 would get the state in-line with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations. It's a request bill from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry (ODAFF).
Every few years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews ODAFF's food safety division. In the past two reviews, state agriculture officials said the FDA recommended for the state to align with federal food safety rules regulating milk from all hoofed animals.
Without the change to state regulations, officials said, the FDA could take away Oklahoma's Grade A status, meaning no milk or milk products could leave the state. But the timeline is unclear.
Bryce Boyer, ODAFF's director of communications, said the department appreciates the legislature considering the bill and looks forward to the decision from the FDA.
"This status is what allows Oklahoma milk and milk products to leave the state," Boyer wrote in an email.
The original version of the SB 2071 included a fee increase from 1 cent to 2 cents per hundred gallons of milk to support the food safety program. Currently, that program is being subsidized through other department funds.
The bill passed the Senate in a 25-20 vote. In the House of Representatives, it was amended to get rid of the fee increase. That version passed the floor in a 58-31 vote.
But because the bill was changed, the full Senate needed to approve the new language. It failed 27-17, with Democrats and Republicans voting against it.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
