For years, Erica Smith had a product people wanted to buy at Black Sheep Farms: her homemade pickles.
She couldn't legally sell them.
"I would always have people ask, ‘Do you sell those pickles?’" Smith said. "I'm like, ‘I can't sell them, but I'll just gift them to you.’"
That's changed under a new Indiana law that significantly expands what homesteaders and small farms can prepare and sell directly to consumers.
House Enrolled Act 1424 took effect July 1, creating two new categories of food sellers: homestead vendors and small farm operators.
At Black Sheep Farms in Michigantown, Smith now sells her pickles alongside vegetables from her garden, homemade breads, strawberry jam, fresh-cut flowers and other goods.
She says the pickles often sell out.
From the farmstand to the Statehouse
Smith didn't just benefit from the new law. She was among the homesteaders who went to the Statehouse while lawmakers were considering it. She first learned about the proposal through a Facebook group for Indiana homesteaders and cottage food vendors.
"I saw that they had a post that a big group was going down to the Statehouse this winter to try to get this bill passed," Smith said. "And I started looking more into it, and I was like, ‘Oh, that would really help me."
Smith joined other small producers in meeting with lawmakers and explaining what they make, what they were legally allowed to sell and what they want to add.
"Basically, what we did was we sat down, we told them what we do, what we sell, what we'd like to do, and how they could help us make that happen," Smith said.
She said some lawmakers were surprised by the restrictions.
"A lot of them said, ‘You can't already do that now? That doesn't make sense to us. Why wouldn't you be allowed to sell the things you make at home on your stand?’"
What the new law allows
Under the new law, homestead vendors and small farm operators can sell certain foods directly to consumers on their property or at farmers markets.
Those include meat products, prepared foods and baked goods, candy, produce, natural sweeteners and fruit spreads. Homestead vendors are distinct from Indiana's existing home-based vendors, which have been recognized under state law since 2022.
Josh Dowell, director of the Indiana Department of Health's Food Protection Division, said during a webinar explaining the law that the new category operates under a different regulatory structure.
"One thing that is different from homesteads and small farms, though, compared to our home-based vendor, is that homestead vendors don't have any additional regulation other than this bill and federal laws up until they make $1.5 million in gross income," Dowell said.
The law doesn't eliminate all restrictions.
Federal regulations still apply to some products, including certain meat, produce and prepared foods.
Packaged homemade foods also have to include labeling identifying the product and producer, ingredients, and potential allergens. Labels must tell consumers that the product was made by a homestead vendor or small farm operator exempt from government licensing and inspection.
Vendors who want to ship or deliver their products must obtain an accredited food-handler certificate, and products cannot be shipped or delivered to customers outside Indiana.
Alcohol and raw-milk dairy products remain restricted.
The Indiana Department of Health said in a statement that its role is unchanged. The department and local health departments will continue providing guidance and investigating complaints involving suspected foodborne illness.
Farm Bureau expects lawmakers to revisit parts of law
Indiana Farm Bureau supported the legislation and worked with bill author Rep. Hunter Smith (Zionsville) as it moved through the General Assembly.
But Micah Burkert, the organization's director of government affairs, said implementation has revealed areas lawmakers may need to clarify.
"As this has been rolled out implementation-wise, we've learned that there's a lot of things in statute that aren't as clear," Burkert said. "So, we might see some clarity come."
One issue is the relationship between the new homestead-vendor category and the existing home-based vendor category. Both remain in Indiana law but operate under different requirements.
Burkert said Farm Bureau could seek changes during the next legislative session to make those distinctions clearer.
Still, she said the organization believes the new law strikes a reasonable balance between allowing small producers to grow their businesses and protecting consumers.
"I think the bill did a pretty decent job because this is allowing folks to sell things from their home, but there's also, if there's anything that pops up from an outbreak or anything like that, the state and the locals do have authority to go in," Burkert said.
Smith agrees that the changes don't amount to unrestricted food sales.
"I think people might misconstrue that it's just kind of like a free-for-all, you can sell literally anything, which it's not,” Smith said. “There are still some regulations that we have to follow.”
Food safety has been a recurring concern as states expand what homemade food producers can sell.
The Institute for Justice, which helped Indiana homesteaders push for the law, examined seven states that already allow homemade perishable foods and meals.
The organization said public records requests to those states found no confirmed cases of foodborne illness traced to food sold under their homemade-food laws. Two suspected cases were reported in one California county, but neither was confirmed.
Smith would like to see several products addressed more clearly in the future.
She pointed to homemade salsa and canned green beans as examples of products customers have requested but which she does not currently sell because of the remaining regulatory requirements.
More than a farmstand
For Smith, the immediate effect of the law has been an opportunity to put more time into Black Sheep Farms.
"It's allowed me to kind of focus more on this full time, and then maybe do some other side jobs in the winter and the fall," Smith said. "It's just really allowed me to expand what I'm offering, the people I'm meeting that come to the stand."
But she also sees the farm as an opportunity to teach people where their food comes from.
Smith grew up gardening with her grandmother and hopes to pass some of that experience to another generation.
"I'd like to use my stand and this farm, this big garden, as a teaching tool," Smith said. "I would love to have kids come out on field trips, come with their families. We can teach them how to grow food."
For Smith, the new law gives small farms another way to sustain themselves while connecting their communities with the people growing and making their food.
