What state

[dunroven]

Tell me everyone. What state do you believe to be the most unrestricted state on farm produce and ability to sell without regulations on everything.

If anyone says Iowa, they are 100% incorrect.

We are considering moving, and before we do, we want to know what would be the most favorable for homestead sellers.

If I am asking this in the wrong place, please move it for me moderator.

Thanks!

[Ken in Maine]

Maine

[Cat]

I actually think MO would be, not that I've lived there, but because there are TONS of homesteaders in every Homesteading-arena I visit from MO. There is plenty of rain most years, lush pasture, trees, lakes, streams, rivers, ponds, etc. The only downfall, in my opinion and that I'm aware of, is the humidity!

[dunroven]

Never been to Maine. I lived in Missouri. I'm not sure about their laws. We didn't have a farm there. Didn't like the people where we lived, we lived in a town and they set a fire on our porch one time and blew up a neighbor's mail box, and this was in a little dinky town, less than 200 people. Told us it wasn't our town and we should leave. We took their advice.

Laws about farming though is what I'm after here.

You think Main is pretty unrestrictive? I could basically sell whatever I had there? What about goat's milk or raw cow's milk?

[Jennifer L.]

Not New York. I've only checked into turkey processing, but there's a limit of 250 turkeys here. 1000 or 2000 chickens, I forget which. But for example I know in VA you can do 20,000. Or could last I knew.

If you know what farm product you are interested in, start checking the ag depts. online of the states you might be interested in, and email them. They'd get back to you with specifics if you asked, I'm sure.

Jennifer

[DenverGirlie]

Just an assumption, but I would bet that you are going to have to move to Mexico or some other country souith of the border. Here in the states most things are regulated for the consumers protection.


You can check out each state for raw milk here:
http://www.realmilk.com/milk-laws-1.html

But then you will want to double check county laws as well.

Selling home produced veggies, fruit and baked goods will be need to checked with local level, couny laws.

Not certain about butchering... I believe that anything you sell that has already been butchered has to be butchered in a USDA inspected plant, so no home butchering and then selling. (You could trade thou)

Good luck in your investigations

[stanb999]

Originally Posted by dunroven

Tell me everyone. What state do you believe to be the most unrestricted state on farm produce and ability to sell without regulations on everything.

If anyone says Iowa, they are 100% incorrect.

We are considering moving, and before we do, we want to know what would be the most favorable for homestead sellers.

If I am asking this in the wrong place, please move it for me moderator.

Thanks!

I figure Pa. Is pretty good.

You can home process Birds(3000). More with semantics.

You can process other animals with semantics.

You can sell raw milk.... License required.

Lots of free help and advise for small farm enterprises.

You can sell baked goods or certain home processed foods.

Farm stands are about exempt from zoning/use regulation.

State law specifically forbids local ordinances agains timber usage or Diameter cutting restrictions.

Our right to farm act is pretty good.... If you been doing it a year your free of nuisence lawsuits.

[Thoughthound]

I live in Iowa and would not have guessed Iowa.

Too many restrictions and not enough common sense by regulators.

My favorite stupid law for example: I can sell lettuce in a ziplock bag. But if I ziplock the bag for the customer, I must have a food processing license, and a kitchen separate from my home kitchen with three hole sink and flood drain.

In Iowa, closing the bag is processing the food. That's our government at work.

I understand they have to draw a line somewhere but that is ridiculous.

Chicken has to be state inspected before sales. Call the government offices to find out which meat processors offer state inspection and they won't tell you because of Homeland Security.

And the people in the Ag department in Des Moines just do not understand why we don't raise more chickens here. . .

[dunroven]

Yeah, Iowa is the worst state in the Union I have found so far for farmer's markets, or processing or anything. If you get a hangnail, you have to get permission to use clippers on it! Its just incredible here, which is why we may be looking at other states.

As far as what products I'm talking about? Right now we have rabbits, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, pot bellied pigs, and goats. We are getting rid of most of them right now because we just can't do anything without buying half the state before we can sell to someone. I think they should give this state back to the Indians. Of course, they'd be so regulated, they wouldn't want it either!

I'm just wondering if there is any place where you have "any" freedom of farming left. You read a book like Joel Salatan's book, Pastured Poultry and you get wonderful hope. Now, here in Iowa, try to put that book into practice. It ain't happening.

[Selena]

Well when your politicians are wholly owned by corporate farms, what do you expect? At least IA has water, unlike GA.

[dunroven]

Yeah, if you can afford to get it! We are on well water here and rural water is coming through. To bring it to the end of our driveway it will cost us just over $1000 in the spring. Then, if we actually want to use it? Another approximately $3000 to get the lines run and brought to the house. Then of course there is the monthly minimum charge, and if you exceed it, there is a graduated pay scale up for that.

We can't do anything with our well water because its not considered potable. We drink it but its "no good."

[ruby_jane]

Originally Posted by Thoughthound

In Iowa, closing the bag is processing the food. That's our government at work.

LMAO! Okay, I had to take a second look and see if this was a New Jersey thing

[WindowOrMirror]

okay in WI for birds and rabbits, USDA required for any other meat. Raw milk... yeah, right... it's WISCONSIN

[MaineFarmMom]

Originally Posted by dunroven

You think Main is pretty unrestrictive? I could basically sell whatever I had there? What about goat's milk or raw cow's milk?

Raw milk is allowed. You can't advertise, put out a sign or take it off the farm to sell but you can sell to anyone who comes to your door by word of mouth.

[Jane in southwest WI]

Originally Posted by WindowOrMirror

okay in WI for birds and rabbits, USDA required for any other meat. Raw milk... yeah, right... it's WISCONSIN

NOT OK in WI, because of NAIS.

[WindowOrMirror]

oh yeah... I guess I still subscribe to the "it's voluntary" paradigm, until they make it an actual law and everything.

[matt_man]

MO.....Raw milk sales are legal off the farm, or delivered to customer but you cannot officially advertise. I don't believe there are any regulations on veggies and there are farmer's markets once a week in just about all the small towns around here.

Rachel

[ET1 SS]

In the 70's a group of hippys got together and formed the 'Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Assoc'. They established themselves as the state's organic certifying agency, and they kept the state government out of that business.

Unlike other states that had no previously existing organization in place, where the state government was free to begin regulating unrestrained.

Only in the past two years has MOFGA backed down and allowed the state to begin trying to get a foot-hold on controlling these things.

I am a vendor at a 'Farmer's Market'. I sell free-range eggs and veggies. Our vendors sale their beef, pork, rabbit, chevron, and poultry, cow milk and goat milk. The Maine Cheesemakers Guild is growing and we have two artisan cheesemakers at my market [they both sell-out every week].

Meat, Milk, cider, cheese, must all be processed in a licensed facility, but most of the facilities are the farmer's home.

[palani]

Edited to maintain harmony with the Universe

[ET1 SS]

I can gather berries and fiddleheads, collect our eggs, and harvest veggies from the garden; and I can sell it all in front of our farm at a roadside stand if I want to. There is no license required, no fees, no inspections.

I am expected to file my taxes at the end of each year though.

I can also haul all of this produce to the Farmer's Market and sell it all there. Now the market has it's own rules, I can only sell stuff that I have produced [we have a 'no-buy' rule]. I had to apply to join the market, and I must pay $30 every year to stay a member, and I must pay $5 per market day that I attend.

I have spoken with the city hall where the market is located, and I learned that the city requires no licenses or permits from the market for it to operate there.

So as far as I can tell, neither the state nor the towns around here, require any kind of permits or anything before you can sell your produce.

If you cook something, they want the health folks to inspect your kitchen though. Baking breads, muffins, jellies, jams, pickling eggs, all those kinds of things require a licensed kitchen.

Dairies and Cheese makers have a very similar inspection to insure that their facility is clean and that every batch is labeled and tracked.