Wisconsin has no cottage food statute for baked goods; its rule comes from a court. Since Kivirist v. DATCP in 2017, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection can't require a license from a home baker who makes baked goods that aren't potentially hazardous and sells them directly to consumers. That's where it stops: in November 2024 the Court of Appeals ruled that unbaked homemade foods, such as candy, fudge and cereal treats, still need a license, and a 2026 bill to widen the exemption failed. Separately, a statute known as the pickle bill lets you sell home-canned pickles and acidified fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and community events, under $5,000 a year, with a sign and a label. In the example below, a Vernon County baker sorts six products. Below are the two exemptions, what needs a license, the labels, the example, and a free checklist.
The short version
- Baked goods that aren't potentially hazardous, made at home and sold directly to consumers: no license (Kivirist).
- Baked means oven-baked: dry, hot air above 140°F in a closed chamber.
- Unbaked foods, such as candy, fudge and no-bake treats, still need a license after the 2024 Court of Appeals ruling.
- Selling baked goods wholesale needs a license.
- Home-canned pickles and fruits or vegetables at pH 4.6 or below: no license, at farmers markets and community events, under $5,000 a year.
- Pickles carry a label and a sign at the stand, both with set wording.
- A 2026 bill to widen the exemption, SB 739, failed to pass.
- TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and canning date, and the year's pickle sales. More below.
The two exemptions
| Baked goods | Pickles and acidified produce | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Kivirist v. DATCP, Lafayette County 2016CV06 (2017) | Wis. Stat. 97.29(2)(b)2 |
| Foods | Baked goods that aren't potentially hazardous | Pickles or other processed vegetables or fruits at equilibrium pH 4.6 or below, canned at home |
| Where sold | Directly to consumers | At a community or social event or a farmers market in Wisconsin |
| Limit | None in DATCP's guidance | Less than $5,000 a year |
| Wholesale | Needs a license | Retail only |
| Label | None set by the court | Name, address, canning date, ingredients, statement |
DATCP's homemade baked goods sheet (May 2025) explains the order's limits and warns that ongoing litigation may change them. The Legislative Council's June 2025 issue brief walks through both court cases. The pickle exemption is in section 97.29. This is general information, not legal advice.
What still needs a license
The 2022 circuit court order had extended Kivirist to all shelf-stable homemade foods. On November 19, 2024, the Court of Appeals reversed it, holding that licensing unbaked foods is constitutional, and the Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal. So chocolates, fudge, caramels, candies and rice cereal treats made at home need a food processing or retail food license, as do jams and other foods outside the two exemptions. Which foods count as potentially hazardous is in TCS foods list.
The labels
| Pickles: each container | What it says |
|---|---|
| Who made it | Name and address of the person who prepared and canned it |
| Date | The date it was canned |
| Statement | "This product was made in a private home not subject to state licensing or inspection." |
| Ingredients | In descending order of prominence, naming any milk, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nut, wheat, peanut or soy ingredient |
At the stand, a sign says: "These canned goods are homemade and not subject to state inspection." The baked goods orders set no label; your name, the ingredients and the allergens are still what a customer with an allergy needs, and how to work them out is in allergen matrix template.
An example: a Vernon County baker
Driftless Crumb, a made-up home baker in Viroqua, Wisconsin, I use in these examples, sells at a Saturday farmers market:
| Product | Allowed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Almond kringle | Yes | A baked good that isn't potentially hazardous |
| Cream cheese kringle | No | The filling needs refrigeration |
| Fudge | License | Unbaked |
| Dill pickles | Yes | The pickle exemption |
| Rice cereal treats | License | Unbaked |
| Cookies for a café | License | Wholesale |
The fudge left the table after the 2024 ruling. The pickles sold $3,950 by September, 79% of the $5,000, so the fall batches are smaller; the kringle has no dollar limit. How a home food business starts is in how to start a cottage food business.
Get the checklist
Download the Wisconsin cottage food checklist. Three sheets: the labels and sign, each line with a column for yours; products, each with whether it's allowed and why; and pickle sales by month against the $5,000 limit, red past 90%. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The pickle exemption ends at $5,000 a year, and every jar carries its canning date. A season of market days with jars from several batches makes both the running total and the dates easy to lose.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each batch's lot and canning date, and the year's pickle sales.
Each batch dated. A batch of dill pickles gets a lot with its production and best-before dates, and lot labels print with them, so the canning date on the jar comes from the batch.
Readings on the batch. Fields of your own on the batch record hold each batch's pH, so the 4.6 the exemption rests on is written down.
Sales by product. Orders record what sold, so the year's pickle sales come from the records, and every list exports to CSV; TaroStack connects to Square for market sales.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The canning date | Handwritten | From the batch's lot |
| A batch's pH | A log sheet | A field on the batch record |
| The year's pickle sales | Added up by hand | From the orders, exported to CSV |
Lots, batches, orders and lot labels are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.