WY fresh farm, an urban farm on the outskirts of Cheyenne that is embroiled in a fight over the city’s most recent annexation efforts, is prohibited from selling some types of meat after being visited by two representatives from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture (WDA) last week.
The complaint brought by the Laramie County Public Health Department alleges that WY fresh farm is selling the meat without a license. According to Derek Grant, a WDA spokesman, the farm can either stop selling meat or apply for a food license.
The food license costs $200 up front and an additional $100 each year afterward.
David Kniseley, who with his wife, Tommie, owns WY fresh farm, told Cowboy State Daily the farm had come to an agreement with the WDA in 2022 that no license was necessary, under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act.
The confusion is the latest blow to the urban farm stand, which for months has been pushing against the Cheyenne City Council’s efforts to annex the farm’s county land into the city limits.
The Visit
According to Grant, the WDA received a notification on March 11 with video footage showing “what appeared to be the owner showcasing the meat they were selling.”
A second request for follow-up came on March 18.
Grant said the video footage came from the Laramie County Health Department.
WDA visited the farm stand on March 25 and presented the Kniseleys with a letter outlining the Wyoming statute that, he said, “requires any person processing, distributing, storing or preparing any food for sale to obtain a license from the Department of Agriculture or a local health department. This includes the sale and storage of meat.“
The meat, which remained in the WY fresh farm freezers, was retained by the WDA. Yellow tags attached to freezer handles with red zip ties claim, “No retail food license.”
The Wyoming Food Freedom Act
David Kniseley said he does not believe WY fresh farm has done anything wrong. WY fresh farm allows outside vendors to sell their meat and other farm goods. The farm supports about 50 outside vendors.
Of those, Kniseley said, five or six of them sell meat, and they all have licenses for their meat. He said he did not believe WY fresh farm was required to also have a license to sell the meat, since the farm is acting only as the space for the sale and does not itself sell the meat.
We do not purchase the meat from our vendors,” reads a statement from WY Fresh Farm. “We host a spot for them to stock and anything they sell just funnels through our processing system and then gets paid to them directly. We act as an agent, not a reseller.”
Kniseley said, “We had come to an agreement with the Department of Agriculture in 2022 that no license was necessary.”
On Saturday, he said he requested that the WDA provide an explanation as to what the law requires and “how we can best proceed to market our meat under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act.”
“That’s what I want,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “There seems to be some confusion about how we market meat under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act. The act makes it clear that we (should) be able to market meat.”
According to Grant, transactions under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act do not involve meat.
Grant acknowledged the WDA had addressed WY fresh farm’s selling of meat without a license on April 13, 2022. He said WDA retained the meat on that occasion just as it did last week and eventually released the meat to the owners. He said the WDA also sent the Kniseleys an email on Nov. 18, 2025, that “identifies the types of establishments that require a license.”
State or Federal Grounds?
Kniseley told Cowboy State Daily he understood that the Wyoming Food Freedom Act allows small family-owned farms like his to sell meat without a license. He questioned whether the WDA was acting as state agents or as federal agents. A USDA license is required to sell meat across state lines, but, he said, “Because there is no inter-state commerce involved, the federal government has no jurisdiction over Wyoming meat.”
Now, he said, “I want clear answers to those questions … I need a response to my question for an explanation as to why I need a license.”
Gaining clarity around who needs meat licenses in Wyoming to sell Wyoming meat is not only crucial for WY fresh farm, he said: “It effects every seller of meat in Wyoming who may want to sell under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act.”
According to Grant, the WDA has addressed eight cases involving violations of selling meat without a license since Jan. 1.
Social Media Outcry
WY fresh farm announced on social media Friday that the WDA had received a complaint that the farm was selling meat without a license.
“We believe we are operating lawfully as we are acting as the farmers’ agents and not resellers of meat,” the post states. “As we continue to research our rights and responsibilities, we are unable to sell lamb, pork, yak and beef.”
The farm is still allowed to sell local poultry.
The post has racked up more than 100 comments, many from the farm’s loyal customers.
Multiple people questioned via social media whether the city council was behind the complaint. On March 9, after more than four hours of public testimony, the Cheyenne City Council unanimously voted to postpone its final vote on an ordinance to forcefully annex the farm and surround parcels into city limits.
The proposed annexation has been contentious for months.
It is part of a larger plan Mayor Patrick Collins introduced when he took office in 2021, intending to annex portions of the county that are surrounded by city land.
Annexing these pockets into the city would lay out clearer boundaries for city and county services, the mayor said, and would eliminate confusion over jurisdiction.
But the Kniseleys and dozens of their supporters have advocated for WY fresh farm to not be forcefully swallowed up by the city, because operating under city ordinances would completely re-define how they can and cannot do business.
The council ultimately voted to postpone the final vote of the ordinance to Nov. 9.
Collins told Cowboy State Daily on Monday he was not aware of the complaint, adding, “I’m sure they (the WDA) have rules in place for good reasons. I don’t understand or know the rules.”
He said he hopes the farm will be able to resolve the issue, adding, “I learned through the process how important it is that 40-50 producers are making a living because they have a place to sell their products.”
Now What?
According to Grant, WY fresh farm has two options for moving forward: they can quit selling meat or apply for a food license. He said the farm will not be allowed to offer meat until it gets a license that allows it to sell licensed and inspected products.
Grant said if the facility further violates the regulations, WDA may choose to take additional actions.
Kniseley is well aware of the options the WDA has provided.
“Their position is that we could pay the $200 and get a license,” he said. “We say we don’t need a license. We need to come to some sort of understanding. Let’s figure it out.”
Kniseley has requested a copy of the complaint.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
