Maryland Health Officials Sued Over Cow-Share Ban

Maryland Farmer Argues Violation of Rights

Washington DC, January 6, 2007 /Natural Newswire/ -- In a recent regulatory change to ban cow-share agreements, whereby participants may consume the raw milk of their own dairy cow, Maryland officials exceeded their statutory authority and violated the rights of Maryland farmers and consumers wishing to engage in such agreements, according to documents filed in Frederick County court today.

Maryland farmer Kevin Oyarzo, represented by Paul Walter, Esq. of the Baltimore law firm Tydings & Rosenberg, has asked for a declaratory judgment against the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to rescind the regulation, adopted on August 1, 2006 as an emergency amendment to the Maryland Health Code.

According to Walter, "The amendment makes consumption of raw milk illegal, which was never the intention of the regulation. It is not illegal for a farmer or the owner of a cow or goat to drink the milk from his or her own animal. Such a restriction-which has never been contemplated or proposed in any state-would require legislation and cannot be implemented by bureaucrats seeking to define a cow-share agreement as a 'sale.'"

"Agreements whereby a farmer pastures cattle or other livestock for a fee, called agistments, have a long history in English law," says Walter, "and are recognized as legitimate contracts in the state of Maryland. By defining an agistment agreement as a sale, the defendants exceeded their statutory authority."

Support for the law suit comes from the Weston A. Price Foundation of Washington, DC, which promotes pasture-based farming and the consumption of natural foods for their health benefits. "Raw milk is available from the farm and in retail establishments in Pennsylvania and through numerous cow-share programs in Virginia," says Sally Fallon, President of the Foundation. "Why should Maryland residents travel to Pennsylvania or Virginia to obtain raw milk when they could support Maryland farmers with cow-boarding agreements?

"Maryland residents have a right to enter into cow-boarding agreements just as raw milk consumers have done in those states where regulations prevent the sale of raw milk. The complaint filed today seeks to restore that right to Marylanders."

Contact: Sally Fallon, President
The Weston A. Price Foundation
(202) 363-4394
info@westonaprice.org, safallon@aol.com