Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cottage Foods topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Panel backs bill to bring honey and maple syrup under cottage‑food sales cap parity
Summary
Senate Bill 882 would align honey and maple syrup producers with other cottage‑food products, raising the effective sales cap parity and tying future cap increases to include those products; the committee recommended the bill unanimously.
LANSING — The House Committee on Agriculture unanimously recommended Senate Bill 882 on Nov. 13, a bill that would bring maple syrup and honey producers under the same annual sales cap as other cottage‑food products.
Chris Young, chief of staff for Sen. Sam Singh, told the committee the bill would change the current $15,000 cap for honey and maple syrup to match the cottage‑food cap that applies to most other products, and would link any future increases in that cap to include honey and maple syrup.
James Lee of the Sustainable Beekeepers Guild of Michigan, testifying by Zoom, said the $15,000 limit restricts small‑scale beekeepers and discourages local production. He told the committee that small producers operating 10–20 colonies can quickly exceed the $15,000 threshold in a typical year and that requiring access to state‑inspected commercial processing above that cap raises costs and barriers.
Amanda Shreve of the Michigan Farmers Market Association, speaking later about the larger cottage‑food package, said advocates support raising the cap and recommended starting with a $45,000 limit in the broader house package to balance growth and public health oversight.
Representative Young moved to recommend the bill out of committee; the clerk called the roll and the motion prevailed. The committee recorded the result as "12 yays, 0 nays, 0 pass." SB 882 now moves forward for further consideration in the legislative process.
What happens next: With the committee recommendation, SB 882 will be placed for further floor or committee action. Stakeholders said the change aims to support local agriculture and small beekeepers by reducing processing and access barriers.
