Urgent NC Alert – Stop Raw Milk Ban & Pesticide Manufacturer Immunity (SB639, NC Farm Bill, 11am 5/6/25-Senate Cmte)

2 days ago

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Tell Senate Committee to Remove Sections 19 & 20 from SB 639

Stop Raw Milk Ban and Pesticide Manufacturer Immunity in NC Farm Bill

One of the more disastrous food and agriculture bills in memory, Senate Bill 639 (SB 639), North Carolina Farm Act of 2025, is on the fast track to pass out of the North Carolina legislature.

SB 639 passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee last week and will have a hearing before the Senate Judiciary on May 6 at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday in 544 LOB.

The bill bans herdshare agreements which have been legal under state statute for seven years; herdshares are the only way currently to legally distribute raw milk for human consumption in North Carolina. The herdshare ban is in SB 639 Section 20 (“Repeal the Dispensing of Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products for Personal Use and Consumption”). A proponent of the ban recently made the following statement about raw milk, “We’ve been playing Russian roulette with one bullet in the chamber with these other pathogens, but when you add [bird flu] into the mix, we put two more bullets into that chamber.” Bird flu is a respiratory, not gastrointestinal, illness (i.e., the mode of transmission is the respiratory tract, not the digestive tract); there is no evidence that bird flu in raw milk or any other food has ever made anyone sick.

In addition to the herdshare ban, Section 19 (“Limit Liability for FIFRA-Compliant Labeling”) of SB 639, in effect, gives pesticide manufacturers complete immunity from liability if a pesticide bears a label approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is registered by the North Carolina Pesticide Board. There is a clause in Section 19 that gives an injured party the right to sue if it can rebut the presumption of safety that the label approval was based on, but that protection is hollow and of little force and effect.

A big show of opposition to the bill is needed. SB 639 has a deadline of Thursday, May 8th to pass out of the Senate. Your participation is crucial in removing Sections 19 and 20 from the bill.

ACTION TO TAKE

1. Call and email the Senate Judiciary Committee members asking them to amend SB 639 by removing Section 19 and Section 20. Calls are best, but please do both; it’s especially important if you are a member’s constituent. A list of committee members is at the end of this alert.

You may copy/paste the following block of addresses to email all committee members:

Bob.Brinson@ncleg.gov; David.Craven@ncleg.gov; Warren.Daniel@ncleg.gov; Amy.Galey@ncleg.gov; Michael.Lazzara@ncleg.gov; Michael.Lee@ncleg.gov; Chris.Measmer@ncleg.gov; Buck.Newton@ncleg.gov; Brad.Overcash@ncleg.gov; Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.gov; Benton.Sawrey@ncleg.gov; Sydney.Batch@ncleg.gov; Dan.Blue@ncleg.gov; Sophia.Chitlik@ncleg.gov; Terence.Everitt@ncleg.gov; Lisa.Grafstein@ncleg.gov; Mujtaba.Mohammed@ncleg.gov

2. Attend the hearing on May 6 at 11:00 a.m. in 544 LOB. Be prepared to testify if the committee chair allows it. For directions and parking details, go to Visitor Info for the Legislative Office Building (LOB) located at 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603.

TALKING POINTS for Section 20 (Repeal the Dispensing of Raw Milk and Raw Milk Products for Personal Use and Consumption)

1. The legislature should be protecting your freedom of choice to obtain the foods you believe best for the health of you and your family, not taking that right away. There is zero evidence that bird flu will increase the risk of illness from raw milk consumption. Bird flu is transmitted through the respiratory tract; it is not gastrointestinal disease transmitted through the digestive tract; there are no cases of illness from bird flu in raw milk or any other food.

2. Raw milk has a good track record for safety; as far as is known, there have been no cases of foodorve illness attributed to raw milk producers operating under the NC herdshare law.

3. The herdshare law improves the ability of farmers to make a living. For diversified farms, raw milk can be a gateway to sales of other farm products like meat, poultry, eggs and produce.

4. The herd share law keeps more of the food dollar in the community, and fewer people will go to South Carolina to get their raw milk.

TALKING POINTS for Section 19 (Limit Liability for FIFRA-Compliant Labeling)

1. North Carolina residents should have the right to get compensation against pesticide manufacturers for injuries caused by their products.

2. Products like glyphosate do not have a warning about cancer, despite many studies concluding that glyphosate is a carcinogen–an example of why reliance on EPA-approved labels provides inadequate protection.

3. Costs for injuries or illness caused by pesticide exposure can last a lifetime, potentially bankrupting affected individuals. Why should companies like Bayer and ChemChina each with over $100 billion in assets not have to pay compensation for injuries their products have caused? Companies should be held liable for injuries or damage their products cause.

4. An EPA-approved label is not a guarantee of safety or accuracy. Section 19 makes the approved label a complete shield against lawsuits related to the duty to warn even if the label is misleading, outdated, or based on faulty data. The EPA does not independently test pesticides; it simply reviews data submitted by the manufacturer who profits from the product and controls what is submitted.

5. Lawsuits are necessary protections for the public. Labels can contain incorrect data, outdated risk information, vague or misleading instructions, or even deliberate omissions. State-level tort claims can be the only way to force corrections and protect public health..

WAPF will issue further alerts on SB 639 as events warrant.

COMMITTEE CONTACT INFO

Email and phone number for each Senate Judiciary Committee member, especially if you are a constituent of a member. To find out who represents you, enter your street address at

https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators

NC Sen. Bob Brinson (R-NC-003)

Bob.Brinson@ncleg.gov

(919) 733-5621

NC Sen. David “Dave” Craven (R-NC-029)

David.Craven@ncleg.gov

(919) 733-5870

NC Sen. Warren Daniel (R-NC-046)

Warren.Daniel@ncleg.gov

(919) 715-7823

NC Sen. Amy Galey (R-NC-025)

Amy.Galey@ncleg.gov