Cottage Food Laws Changed in 2026. What Do the Changes Tell Us About the Industry?

Colorado's governor signed a bill in June that raises the state's cottage food limit from $10,000 to $150,000. Read that sentence twice, because both halves are misleading. The old number was net revenue from each eligible food product. The new one is gross revenue from everything sold under the law. And the main changes do not take effect until January 1, 2027.

That is cottage food law in 2026 in miniature: plenty of motion, numbers that do not compare, and dates that matter. Here is what five states did, in the order their laws take hold, as the legislatures wrote them. This is a look at the trend, not a guide to any state's rules.

Idaho: in force since March 20

The Idaho Direct-to-Consumer Commerce Act lets producers sell homemade shelf-stable and perishable foods directly to informed buyers, entirely within Idaho. It also says cities and counties cannot impose stricter licensing, permitting, inspection, packaging or labeling rules on those products than state or federal law does. It was signed March 20 with an emergency clause, so it took effect immediately.

Michigan: in force since March 24

Michigan's Public Act 51 of 2025 was signed December 23, 2025, and took effect March 24, 2026. It doubles the sales limit from $25,000 to $50,000 in gross sales, with $75,000 for operations whose products sell for $250 or more a unit. The law lets the state adjust those limits for inflation starting October 1, 2026, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture's own pages still listed $50,000 and $75,000 on October 8. It also allows internet, mail-order and delivery-platform sales to Michigan buyers, with conditions. Wholesale and consignment stay off the table.

Maryland: in force since October 1

Maryland's House Bill 535, signed April 28, doubles the limit from $50,000 to $100,000 in "annual revenues." The statute does not say whether that means gross or net.

Oklahoma: signed in May, takes effect November 1

House Bill 3720 renames the state's Homemade Food Freedom Act the Local Food Freedom Act and raises the limit on gross annual sales of prepared food from $75,000 to $250,000. The House's announcement gives the effective date as November 1, 2026, so it is not law on the ground yet.

Colorado: signed in June, takes effect January 1, 2027

House Bill 26-1033, signed June 4, replaces a limit of $10,000 in net revenue from each eligible food product with a limit of $150,000 in gross revenue from all food sold under the law, adjusted each year for inflation. It also newly allows some foods that need refrigeration or contain meat, with training requirements, and it requires producers to register with the state, which will publish a registry. The cap, the new foods and the registration all start January 1, 2027.

What they have in common

The ceilings are rising, but they are not a leaderboard. Colorado's number is fifteen times larger on paper, Oklahoma's is more than three times larger, and Maryland's and Michigan's doubled. But gross sales, net revenue, "annual revenues" and per-product limits are different measures. A number in a headline does not tell you how much a baker can sell. We look at how those definitions muddy income claims in our piece on what home bakers make.

The product list is stretching. Until now in Colorado, cottage food has meant foods that do not need refrigeration. That line is moving, there and in Idaho, whose act names perishable food.

Selling from a distance is becoming legal. Michigan now allows internet and delivery-platform sales to in-state buyers, and Idaho's act covers direct sales within the state.

Permission and paperwork do not always arrive together. Colorado is adding registration and a public registry. Idaho goes the other way, taking stricter local licensing and inspection rules off the table. There is no single direction on oversight.

Signed is not in force. Of these five, two, Oklahoma and Colorado, do not take effect until later this year or next. A baker reading a headline in October could believe a limit applies that does not.

What it suggests

Laws written as a small exemption for small sellers are being rewritten like the rules for a small industry: bigger ceilings, wider product lists, new ways to sell, and in some places a registry. The part nobody has solved is the one that matters to a reader comparing states. The laws do not even agree on what they are counting. That, more than any cap, is the industry's quiet problem.