This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Permit and tax rules change, and your situation may differ. Always confirm current requirements with the official state agency linked in this guide, and consult a licensed attorney or tax professional for advice about your specific business.Last verified against official state sources: 2026-06-12
No. Under MCA 50-49-203 no state agency or local government may require licensure, permitting, certification, labeling, testing, or inspection of homemade food sold in compliance with the Act. There is no registration and no fee. Montana's older cottage food registration (one-time $40, with its own approved-food list and label rules) was not abolished and still runs alongside the Act, but most home producers no longer need it because the Act is broader and requires nothing.
None. Neither the statute nor DPHHS guidance imposes any food safety training requirement.
Very broad: any food prepared in a private home kitchen, including perishable and TCS items like cream pies, cheesecakes, fermented foods, and refrigerated goods. Raw milk and cream are allowed from a small dairy (at most 5 lactating cows, 10 goats, or 10 sheep) with required milk testing every six months and annual brucellosis testing. Poultry is allowed from producers slaughtering fewer than 1,000 of their own birds per year under the federal exemption with federal recordkeeping.
Foods containing meat (beef, pork, lamb) generally cannot be sold under the Act; the Department of Livestock reads the statute as restricting meat products, with the only carve-out being poultry from the under-1,000-bird exemption. Even chicken stock or bouillon disqualifies a product unless it comes from exempt birds. Wild game cannot be sold, alcohol-containing and THC products remain separately regulated, and health claims are prohibited. Milk may not be donated.
Direct from producer to informed end consumer, only within Montana, for home consumption or a traditional community social event. That covers sales from the home, farm, or ranch and at farmers markets, weddings, church socials, school events, potlucks, club meetings, and similar gatherings, plus pre-arranged delivery to the consumer. Not allowed: out-of-state sales or shipping, wholesale, resale, and sales to or through grocery stores, restaurants, or boutiques (raw unprocessed fruit, vegetables, and aquaculture products are the one retail exception). All food must be prepared in the home kitchen; on-site prep at a market requires a temporary or retail license.
Annual sales cap: none (no annual revenue or volume limit, apart from the 1,000-bird poultry cap and the small dairy herd limits).
No label is required. Instead the producer must inform the end consumer before sale that the food 'has not been licensed, permitted, certified, packaged, labeled, or inspected per any official regulations.' The statute does not prescribe whether that disclosure is a label, a sign, or verbal. Health claims are prohibited everywhere, including social media. Producers who instead register under the older cottage food program follow that program's label rules.
Montana has no general statewide sales tax, so there is normally nothing to collect at a fair or market. A handful of resort communities such as Whitefish, Red Lodge, Big Sky, and West Yellowstone levy a local resort tax that can apply to sales made there; check locally.
Strong state preemption: neither state agencies nor local governments may impose licensing, permitting, or inspection on compliant producers. Privately operated farmers markets, however, can set their own stricter vendor rules as a condition of selling at that market, so check with the market manager.
The Act has no penalty section of its own. Selling outside its terms (wholesale, out of state, meat products) makes you an unlicensed food establishment under Montana's general food laws, which carry misdemeanor criminal and civil penalties, and producers remain civilly liable if their food makes someone sick.
Selling non-food crafts too? See the Montana craft fair permit and sales tax guide.
Yes, under Montana Local Food Choice Act (SB 199, 2021), MCA 50-49-201 through 50-49-203, amended in 2023 and 2025; the older cottage food registration program still exists as a parallel option. No. Under MCA 50-49-203 no state agency or local government may require licensure, permitting, certification, labeling, testing, or inspection of homemade food sold in compliance with the Act. There is no registration and no fee. Montana's older cottage food registration (one-time $40, with its own approved-food list and label rules) was not abolished and still runs alongside the Act, but most home producers no longer need it because the Act is broader and requires nothing.
Very broad: any food prepared in a private home kitchen, including perishable and TCS items like cream pies, cheesecakes, fermented foods, and refrigerated goods. Raw milk and cream are allowed from a small dairy (at most 5 lactating cows, 10 goats, or 10 sheep) with required milk testing every six months and annual brucellosis testing. Poultry is allowed from producers slaughtering fewer than 1,000 of their own birds per year under the federal exemption with federal recordkeeping. Foods containing meat (beef, pork, lamb) generally cannot be sold under the Act; the Department of Livestock reads the statute as restricting meat products, with the only carve-out being poultry from the under-1,000-bird exemption. Even chicken stock or bouillon disqualifies a product unless it comes from exempt birds. Wild game cannot be sold, alcohol-containing and THC products remain separately regulated, and health claims are prohibited. Milk may not be donated.
Yes: none (no annual revenue or volume limit, apart from the 1,000-bird poultry cap and the small dairy herd limits).
Direct from producer to informed end consumer, only within Montana, for home consumption or a traditional community social event. That covers sales from the home, farm, or ranch and at farmers markets, weddings, church socials, school events, potlucks, club meetings, and similar gatherings, plus pre-arranged delivery to the consumer. Not allowed: out-of-state sales or shipping, wholesale, resale, and sales to or through grocery stores, restaurants, or boutiques (raw unprocessed fruit, vegetables, and aquaculture products are the one retail exception). All food must be prepared in the home kitchen; on-site prep at a market requires a temporary or retail license.
No label is required. Instead the producer must inform the end consumer before sale that the food 'has not been licensed, permitted, certified, packaged, labeled, or inspected per any official regulations.' The statute does not prescribe whether that disclosure is a label, a sign, or verbal. Health claims are prohibited everywhere, including social media. Producers who instead register under the older cottage food program follow that program's label rules.
Montana has no general statewide sales tax, so there is normally nothing to collect at a fair or market. A handful of resort communities such as Whitefish, Red Lodge, Big Sky, and West Yellowstone levy a local resort tax that can apply to sales made there; check locally.
Browse upcoming craft fairs and markets in Montana with booth fees and application deadlines, and use the booth ROI calculator to plan a profitable season.
Last verified: 2026-06-12. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.