Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Agriculture Food Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee hears testimony supporting bill to allow retail sale of bison, elk and red deer meat
Summary
Senators heard proprietors, the New Hampshire Farm Bureau and public health officials discuss Senate Bill 229, which would allow sale of bison, elk and red deer meat at retail and remove a prospective repeal of related sale provisions. Testimony focused on farm practices, inspection regimes and consumer safety protocols.
For the record, I’m Senator Kevin Avar, District 12, sitting in for Senator Pearl, and I’m going to read SB 229, or introduce it anyway, and have him being a cosponsor on this bill as well," Senator Kevin Avar said, introducing the measure.
SB 229 would permit the retail sale of meat from bison, red deer (sometimes described in testimony as “red stag”) and elk and would remove a scheduled repeal of current provisions governing those sales. The sponsor described the bill as straightforward and said others would testify.
Nick Vales, owner of Riverdale Farm, told the committee he has raised bison for about 28 years and added elk about 8–10 years ago. “They’re like big goats,” Vales said, describing how the animals live “symbiotically” on his property and that they are “purely organically raised” with “no hormones.” Vales said he and other farmers currently send animals to a state inspection facility and sell to restaurants, and now want to sell packaged product through retail stores and co‑ops to increase consumer access.
Rob Johnson, policy director for the New Hampshire Farm Bureau, testified in support but did not take the witness chair. Johnson told the committee that restaurants currently note on their menus when game meat is being served: “It’s on the menu that it said is unexpected meat, so they are aware.”
Committee members asked about food‑safety risks and inspection. Michelle Roberge, bureau chief for public health protection at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Erica Davis, administrator for the Food Protection Section, joined the hearing to answer questions. Davis explained the state follows the 2017 federal food code for retail food safety and said the code includes “parameters for safe handling of all products, especially meat products.” She added that “game meat, which the federal food code defines red deer, elk and bison as, have specific parameters within the food code to address safe cooking instructions.”
Committee members also asked whether producers would still be inspected by state officials rather than by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Vales and others confirmed the animals are handled under state inspection; Vales said the meat is inspected but “it’s just not USDA.”
At the close of the hearing Senator Avar, speaking as prime sponsor, said he supported moving the bill forward and that it could help farmers confronted with limited federally inspected processing capacity in parts of the state.
The committee moved SB 229 to the next step by voice/consent. The hearing record contains no roll‑call tally; members approved the motion by voice vote.
