The only raw milk allowed to be advertised for on-farm sales in Oklahoma is goat milk, but Senate Bill 1963 would add donkey milk to the list.
The bill, by Sen. Shane Jett (R- Shawnee) and Rep. Rick West (R- Heavener), unanimously passed its house committee this week. Dulce de Donké is located in Luther is the only donkey dairy in Oklahoma and its owners say it's the first and lone donkey dairy in the U.S.
During the House agriculture committee, Saundra Traywick, one of the owners of the farm, said they want to have the rule included in the statute.
Lawmakers raised questions about if the measure is needed. JanLee Rowlett, the deputy commissioner of Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, said in the meeting that for the dairy to advertise the milk, it needs to be added to the law.
“My understanding is that there are provisions in the law that are a blanket prohibition on the advertising of raw milk, the exception to that is goat milk,” Rowlett said. “What this bill would do is add donkey milk to that exception to the general provision that you can not advertise raw milk.”
The dairy sells raw donkey milk, skin and hair products made from the milk, and ships organic pasteurized freeze dried donkey milk from Europe to people in the U.S. People from across the nation buy products from Dulce de Donké and some have said it has helped them with illnesses, according to the dairy’s Facebook page.
The bill unanimously advanced from the House Committee on Agriculture earlier this week and passed the Oklahoma Senate 38-7 in March. It’s on the way to the House floor before it can head to the governor’s desk.
Because of potential health risks associated, the retail sale of raw milk is illegal in Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma State University Extension. But raw milk can be sold through incidental or on-farm sales directly to consumers.
Raw milk straight from a farm is different from milk sold in retail. For instance, the milk sold in stores, restaurants and in school lunch rooms is pasteurized, meaning the milk is heated to a certain temperature for a set time to get rid of pathogens like the avian influenza that is being detected in dairy cow herds.
