The Wisconsin 4th District Court of Appeals ruled against a pair of raw milk producers, denying their petition for court orders declaring that their raw milk sales were legal. The appeals court ruling published Aug. 7 did not address whether or not raw milk sales were legal, but did agree with a lower court ruling that the milk producers needed a milk producer license to distribute milk produced on their farms, according to the decision.

The producers had filed separately, but their cases were joined in the lower court.

The first case was brought by Mark and Petra Zinniker, who lost their license in 2009 after 35 people fell sick after allegedly drinking raw milk from the Zinnikers’ farm. In 2010, they entered into an arrangement where the raw-milk group Nourished by Nature would pay the Zinnikers to keep a dairy herd that Nourished by Nature members would visit and milk for their own consumption.

The Zinnakers’ attorney asked the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) whether the arrangement was legal. The state replied that it was a “sham arrangement” exposing the Zinnakers to liability, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette. The appeals court ruled that the Zinnakers “do not have a legal right to operate a dairy farm as milk producers without a license."

The second case was brought by Wayne and Kay Craig, who produced raw milk under a milk producers license and distributed it at a store, solely to members of a private association. They argued that they did not need a retail food establishment license to sell raw milk, because the sales were not to the public.

The circuit court had ruled that such an arrangement was not legal, because the contract limiting sales to members of the private association was for the purpose of illegally selling raw milk, and was therefore void. Since the contract was void, the sales were to the public. In order to sell any sort of food to the public, including illegal raw milk, the Craigs were required by law to have a retail food establishment license for the store.

The appeals court affirmed the ruling of the circuit court that denied the Zinnikers and Craigs a declaration of legality.

The court decision does not address whether or not raw milk sales should be legal, but only interprets existing Wisconsin law. PD

—Summarized by Progressive Dairyman staff from cited sources