"It would be different," Holmes County dairy farmer Alan Kozak said. "Instead of selling it to Smith Dairy or Reiter Dairy, the farmer could sell it direct to the consumer and easily more than double their paid price."

If Senate Bill 95 is passed, raw milk sales will be legal only at the farm, thus cutting out a middle man.

"If a farmer would sell even 500 gallons a week, that doesn't sound like a lot in today's commodity market because it's not worth much more that $1 a gallon," said diversified farmer Ralph Schlatter. "But 500 gallons at $3 a gallon you've increased your income by $1,000 a week."

With 52 weeks in a year a farmer could increase income by up to $52,000 a year, more than most small farms run on in a year, Schlatter said.

Schlatter doesn't use a middle man. He uses a technique known as direct marketing, selling his grass-fed beef and raw cheeses out of a store located on his farm in Defiance.

Having to do direct marketing, though, is one of the issues that may prevent dairy farms from going into the raw milk business, said state Rep. Bob Gibbs, a Lakeville Republican.

"I think the economic impact is relatively minor," Gibbs said. "You're only selling it at the farm level. People have to come and pick it up."

Another problem is liability.

"It's not just straightforward when you decide to go into something like that. There are a lot of safeguards that you have to be concerned with," said Leah Miller of the Farm Institute.

Even now Miller hears complaints from farmers about paperwork, and the red tape would only get worse for a farmer with a raw milk license.

Source: The-Daily-Record.com