Lifestyle influencers Hannah and Daniel Neeleman, known online as Ballerina Farm, have attracted millions of followers eager for glimpses into their life of dairy farming in the Kamas Valley.
In 2025, the couple opened two brick-and-mortar locations: a small farm stand in Kamas, then a larger farm store in Midway.
When the Kamas farm stand opened, the Neelemans said they had dreamed of sharing raw milk from the dairy ever since starting their farm.
But Ballerina Farm hit pause within months of beginning raw milk sales after it failed a pair of milk safety tests.
According to records obtained by KPCW from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, health inspectors found two health violations during milk testing in summer 2025.
Tests from late May and early June revealed too-high levels of coliform, the family of bacteria that includes E. coli, in the farm’s bottled raw milk.
The state’s dairy program manager told KPCW that Ballerina Farm then made the decision to pause raw milk sales.
A Ballerina Farm spokesperson said raw milk was only being sold at its Kamas location.
She added the company is only selling pasteurized milk for the time being.
“Producing raw milk takes careful planning from a facility and infrastructure standpoint,” the farm said in a statement Jan. 29. “Unfortunately, we learned this after the fact.”
Ballerina Farm says its current dairy is better suited to pasteurized products. It plans to construct a second dairy in the future that’s designed specifically for raw milk products.
All the farm’s other dairy products, including yogurt, ice cream, cheeses and butter, are made with pasteurized cream or milk.
Meanwhile, at the statehouse, a bill sponsored by Rep. Mike Kohler aims to create stricter requirements for anyone selling raw milk in the state.
The longtime dairy farmer told KPCW ahead of the legislative session he wants to make selling raw milk more straightforward but also make health standards more stringent.
“This is working with the Department of Agriculture to basically back some of the rules off, make it easier to sell product,” he said. “But I am turning up the heat a little bit on raw milk producers that make people sick.”
Kohler said if the bill becomes law, the consequences will be harsher for raw milk health violations. Penalties could include fines and suspensions.
Currently, guidelines from Utah’s Raw Milk for Retail program stipulate any milk that fails its health tests must be either recalled or not sold, then disposed of. Permits may be suspended if a seller repeatedly fails its milk tests.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention caution that drinking raw milk can lead to serious health risks, including exposure to listeria and salmonella.
