This is general information, not legal advice. Wisconsin’s home baking rules come from court orders and may change. Check with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and your local rules before you start. Last reviewed Nov. 11, 2026.

What it is

Wisconsin has no general cottage food statute. Court orders bar the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, or DATCP, from enforcing food licensing against home bakers who make baked goods that are not potentially hazardous and sell them directly to consumers. A potentially hazardous food is one that needs temperature control to stay safe because harmful germs can grow quickly in it. The orders come from Kivirist v. DATCP, Lafayette County Case No. 2016CV06. A separate state law, often called the pickle bill, lets people sell certain home-canned foods without a license.

Sources: DATCP Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods page; DATCP fact sheet P-DFRS0222; Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2

License or permit

Home bakers covered by the court orders do not need a DATCP food license, and DATCP has no registration for them. Home canners who meet every condition of Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2 also do not need a license. Unbaked foods, potentially hazardous foods and wholesale sales need a food business license. Commercial kitchen baking businesses must follow Wisconsin Administrative Code chapter ATCP 70, which covers wholesale food manufacturing, or chapter ATCP 75, which covers retail food establishments.

Sources: DATCP Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods page; Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2; Wisconsin Legislative Council issue brief (June 2025)

Sales cap

DATCP lists no dollar cap for home bakers, though the Legislative Council describes the court exception as covering low-volume sales. Home canners must receive less than $5,000 a year from sales of their canned goods.

Sources: DATCP fact sheet P-DFRS0222; Wisconsin Legislative Council issue brief (June 2025); Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2.c

What you can sell

Home bakers may sell baked goods that are not potentially hazardous, as defined in Wis. Stat. 97.29(1)(hm). DATCP says baked goods are generally exposed to dry heat above 140 degrees Fahrenheit in a closed chamber such as an oven, and the finished product must not be potentially hazardous. Home canners may sell pickles and other processed fruits and vegetables with an equilibrium pH of 4.6 or lower. The pH scale measures acidity, and the equilibrium pH is the reading after the ingredients in the jar have evened out. A reading of 4.6 or lower means the food is acidic enough to qualify.

Sources: DATCP fact sheet P-DFRS0222; Wis. Stat. 97.29(1)(hm); Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2.a

What you cannot sell

Unbaked foods such as chocolates, fudge, rice cereal treats and candies still need a license. In Wisconsin Cottage Food Association v. DATCP, 2024 WI App 69, the Court of Appeals reversed a circuit court order that had extended the exemption to those foods, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied review. Baked goods that are potentially hazardous also need a license. Assembly Bill 748 and Senate Bill 739, which would have created a broader home food exemption, failed to pass on March 23, 2026.

Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Council issue brief (June 2025); DATCP Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods page; 2025 Assembly Bill 748 history; 2025 Senate Bill 739 history

How you can sell

Home bakers must sell directly to consumers, and a business that wholesales baked goods must be licensed. DATCP’s guidance does not address online sales or shipping. Home canners may sell only at community or social events and farmers markets in Wisconsin.

Sources: DATCP Licenses and Homemade Baked Goods page; Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2.b

Labels

DATCP’s guidance sets no label rule for home bakers under the court orders. Home canners must display a sign at the place of sale that reads "These canned goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection." Each container must list the name and address of the person who prepared and canned the food, the canning date and the ingredients in descending order of prominence. The ingredient list must give the common name of any ingredient that comes from milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts or soybeans. Each container must also carry the statement "This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection."

Sources: DATCP fact sheet P-DFRS0222; Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2.d-e

Read the full Wisconsin cottage food law guide and FAQs

Wisconsin cottage food makers

Counties with listings

Northwest Wisconsin (25 listings)

Ashland County

Barron County

Bayfield County

Burnett County

Douglas County

Polk County

Price County

Rusk County

Sawyer County

Washburn County

Northwoods (19 listings)

Florence County

Forest County

Langlade County

Lincoln County

Taylor County

Vilas County

Chippewa Valley and West Central Wisconsin (49 listings)

Chippewa County

Clark County

Dunn County

Eau Claire County

Jackson County

Pepin County

Pierce County

St. Croix County

Trempealeau County

Coulee Region and Southwest Wisconsin (20 listings)

Crawford County

Grant County

Iowa County

La Crosse County

Lafayette County

Richland County

Vernon County

Central Wisconsin (44 listings)

Adams County

Marathon County

Marquette County

Portage County

Waupaca County

Waushara County

Wood County

Northeast Wisconsin and the Lakeshore (41 listings)

Brown County

Door County

Manitowoc County

Marinette County

Oconto County

Shawano County

Sheboygan County

Fox Valley (55 listings)

Calumet County

Fond du Lac County

Green Lake County

Outagamie County

Winnebago County

Madison Area and South Central Wisconsin (87 listings)

Columbia County

Dane County

Dodge County

Green County

Jefferson County

Rock County

Sauk County

Milwaukee Area and Southeast Wisconsin (120 listings)

Kenosha County

Milwaukee County

Ozaukee County

Racine County

Walworth County

Washington County

Waukesha County

Wisconsin cottage food rules in plain English

What it is

License or permit

Sales cap