It’s been two years since legislation to allow for on farm sales of unpasteurized milk was last proposed at the Capitol. Now the bill will be back. State Senator Glenn Grothman intends to introduce the measure later this year.
“More and more chiropractors and nutritionists are prescribing raw milk for their patients, and we’re going to have people testifying who couldn’t get over their illness until they began drinking raw milk,” said Grothman, a West Bend Republican. “It’s good for people who actually are allergic to normal milk. It might be good for autistic children. It may cure a variety of other ailments.”
The legislature passed a raw milk bill in 2010, but then governor Jim Doyle vetoed the legislation, citing concerns over public health and the potential for damage to the state’s dairy industry. Grothman offered similar legislation in 2011, but the bill failed to advance out of committee. A spokesman for Governor Scott Walker said he may be willing to sign a bill into law – provided there are safeguards for public health and to protect the integrity of the dairy industry.
John Colbert, WIBA