milk cow economics--do we or don't we?

[piccololily]

We are considering a family cow, but are wondering if we can produce our own milk as cheaply as we are getting it now. We are a family of nine, five of them males! We go through anywhere from 15-20 gallons a week, depending if I use some for yogurt or kefir. I am not even making butter or cheese from that amount yet!

We are able to buy good milk from a farmer friend with a small dairy 2 miles away. He pastures his cows when available (in N. Central WI) and doesn't use hormones, etc. We only pay $2.50/gallon.

We only have about one acre that we could use for pasture, and it is currently sandy and poor. With the cost of buying hay and feed, and other supplies, could we even come close to that? Or should we continue buying our milk? It is definitely less work and committment! I've always had dreams of making all our own dairy products--we use a LOT--from the excess we'd have with a cow. Is this unrealistic? We've only raised poultry, and have no experience whatsoever with livestock.

Thank you for any input....it is very much apprecitated.

[copperhead46]

I think for $2.50 a gallon you are getting a pretty good deal. A family milk cow probably won't give you as much milk as you use anyway, unless you get a big ol Holstien. The cost of feed and hay are rediculous, and one acre isn't enough for a cow to live and produce a lot of milk. Just my thoughts......

P.J.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by piccololily

We are able to buy good milk from a farmer friend with a small dairy 2 miles away. He pastures his cows when available (in N. Central WI) and doesn't use hormones, etc. We only pay $2.50/gallon...

Thank you for any input....it is very much apprecitated.

Count your blessings and carry on as you are.

[sammyd]

If you are in WI and buying the milk without being part of a farmshare it's illegal.
If you have bought a farmshare stick with it, at 2.50 at gallon it's a good price and the farmer is making a bit.

To the good-
You could maybe shave a bit off your current milk bill with a little luck in finding a cheap hay supply to supplement your pasture and buying your feed in bulk at a feed mill.
A good cow should be able to produce the 20 or so pounds a day you currently use and not require a ration like a cow that produces 100 pounds a day.
If the cow should have a heifer calf, it could be worth some money.

To the bad-
With no cow experience it would be a difficult proposition. Are you ready to stay home and milk that thing 310 days a year?
What will you do for milk when she's dry?
If the cow drops a bull calf you do not have the facilities to raise it, and at the moment bull calf prices aren't too hot.

[Ronney]

As Up North said, count your blessings and carry on as you are.

But that isn't to say that in the meantime you shouldn't start improving the bit of dirt you do have so that at some time in the future you can revisit this idea.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[Teacupliz]

If I could buy good raw milk for $2.50 I would sell my cow- she cost me $2000. and eats about $3. a day at least and $3. for her bedding- not to mention the couple times I had to call the vet and my time.
You are getting a wonderful deal!
liz

[francismilker]

In my opinion you should go down the road and hug that dairy friend of yours for selling it to you so cheap! You might even take a homemade pie of his/her choice and offer to do some chores. As liz said, it would be awful hard to justify feeding a cow when it cost AT LEAST $3 per day to take care of feed anymore.

I would say though, if you want a cow and you can afford it, go for it! I've said many times here on the board, a good, gentle milk cow is Prozac on the hoof. They help me keep my sanity sometimes. So if you want it, buy it!

[piccololily]

Thank you all for the responses. It seems the general consensus that we should continue on as we are, is what I had been guessing at myself.

We aren't city folk new to the country (no offense intended to those who are), aren't afraid of work, and enjoy learning new things as a family. All of our children are hard workers and some of them especially enjoy animals. So we would have lots of help...and we homeschool, so we're always home anyway.

That said, because our priority right now is saving money while still feeding our family the best we can, we will probably wait to buy that cow. But I agree that it is a good idea to improve the pasture, and also prepare buildings and fences. Then maybe when the right cow comes our way....

I think future posts will be about how to fix the pasture!

Thanks again!

[gone-a-milkin]

Piccololily, the only deal better than what you are getting MAY be the one I have.... Which is where I work for that neighbor, he PAYS me to milk the cows and lets me have whatever milk I need. I know exactly where my milk comes from. I have a whole herd of dairy cows, and I dont have to pay for feed, vets,etc. It is SWEET!

Dairyfarmers (in general) are some of the most generous people you will ever meet. I agree that you should make him a pie...he sounds very nice!

[Jay]

Costs me about $3.50/day to feed the cow, and I am getting 4 gallons/day right now--the calf gets the rest.
Feed/hay prices go up and down, I get a custom milled feed for about 18 cents/lb. 8# a day=$1.45 She eats about $2 worth of alfalfa/grass hay a day, from hay I stocked up on when it was not a bad price.
Doesn't include minerals, water, pasture, fencing, and (so far zero--3+ years) vet bills, or any other misc. expenses. Plus I have another steer (hers) this year that gets to feed us when he is big enough to butcher.
Also doesn't include purchase price, milk buckets, strainers, filters, AI or Bull fees, or anything else to make cheeses, etc, or my time.

It all evens out in the end. I guess if I could buy it for as cheap as you are getting it, I'd keep doing what you were doing and if a sweet, docile cow would come along buy her.....
By the way, I get between $5 and $6 a gallon for full cream milk.....so yes, you ARE getting a great deal!!!

[CatherineE]

Well...seems like there might be a compromise in here, somewhere. I know that Joel Salatin and others say that the best way to build up your land, and increase the number and quality of the grasses and forbes growing on your place is to get animals on it! The hay you feed them, in addition to that grass, can be counted as fertilizer, when it comes out the other end. I can vouch for the fact that I'm seeing many new wild clovers and such coming up on our place, in spite of the fact that all we've done is add in cows to eat everything down, in rotation! Maybe you could make a deal with your farmer friend, to raise him a replacement heifer, or something, in exchange for some or all of your milk? Or maybe you could just raise up a bull calf for meat for yourself. Then, with the help of a bit of electric fencing, you'd have at least one animal on your place, eating the grass and improving the soil. Or, you could look into getting a goat, to do the same thing? I don't think she'd be able to supply all the milk you need, but she could at least help? I've not raised goats, but a friend does, and on not much more than an acre. The milk is virtually indistinguishable from a cow's when it's fresh, and it makes the most luscious cheeses!

[linn]

When I milked my Red Angus/Jersey cross she gave four gallons a day at her peak. That was twenty eight gallons per week. She also produced a nice beef calf when bred to a beef bull. It does cost to feed a cow; but if you have a good pasture you can cut the cost of feed drastically. If the pasture is big enough you can use part of it as hay ground and share hay with someone who has the equipment to cut and bale for you.
On the other side of the coin, cows tie you down unless you can get a substitute milker. You also have to pay for AI if there is no bull available. Sometimes it takes more than one trip by the AI tech before the cow sticks. You also must have good enough fences to keep your cow in the pasture, especially when she is in heat. A shelter is needed for cold, icy weather if you live where winters are hard.

[DJ in WA]

About cows tying you down. True, but I can't count how many times I've gotten out of unsavory invites because "I've got to milk the cow(s)".

I've also found them to be good motivators. Cows don't let you sleep in, or sit in the easy chair all day. If your kids have any conscience, they won't be able to tolerate the thought of her hungry or needing milked.

So, strictly economically speaking, probably not worth it, but there are many fringe benefits, especially for youngsters. Kids need something to get their hands on, other than the controls of video games.

[francismilker]

DJ in WA
About cows tying you down. True, but I can't count how many times I've gotten out of unsavory invites because "I've got to milk the cow(s)".

I've also found them to be good motivators. Cows don't let you sleep in, or sit in the easy chair all day. If your kids have any conscience, they won't be able to tolerate the thought of her hungry or needing milked.

So, strictly economically speaking, probably not worth it, but there are many fringe benefits, especially for youngsters. Kids need something to get their hands on, other than the controls of video games.
I love it DJ. I'll second the "unsavory invites" scheme.

[dirty fingers]

we too have been tossing around the idea of a milk cow.....we are a family of 6 now when we are all here and the biggest of the family LOVES milk. He has never had fresh milk but i am sure he would learn to like it. It has been years for me, but the cost of it. We dont go through 15 to 20 gal a week ...not even close. but i have always wanted to learn to make cheese another big item they eat.

My great grandma always had milk goats....i just loved them, and i think they would provide us with a better amount of milk we would use. But i have been told no goats.

after reading other post i am thinking right now we will keep bying it also, sad we can not get it fresh from a dairy but we live on 5 acres and not able to use it all...what we do have feeds daughters horses.

thanks for the info, and best wishes to you all.....

[CatherineE]

Dirty fingers...if you have 5 acres, and you aren't using it all, and you can't get a goat, why not look into either a milking sheep or two or one of the smaller, possibly heritage breeds of cow? I don't know much about milk sheep, but would be interested in adding a couple to our menagerie, someday. Something like a Dexter, Dutch Belted or an American Milking Devon would give you a smaller, more family sized amount of milk. The cow could be improving your pasture (through rotational grazing and manuring) and raising up a calf for beef every year. Remember folks, when you are figuring the economics of owning a milk cow, it's not just about the milk! Owning a cow also gives you pasture improvement and beef production! Also, depending on your cow's breeding, she might do all of this off of grass and hay alone! We have AMDs and love them. We get a bit more than a gallon a day, while sharing milk with her 2 month old heifer. I know our cow's holding up, and we'd probably get at least double that amount (probably a good bit more, actually) if we weaned the calf, but we want that little girl to grow up big and strong to be a future milker, herself, and a gallon a day suits our family just fine, for now. Good luck in your decisions, people. Raw milk is liquid gold, any way you can get it!

[michiganfarmer]

If you know whats in the milk y ou are getting, are getting it for $2.50, and you dont have enough aerable land to feed a cow, I say keep buying it from your neighbor.

[darbyfamily]

I agree with DJ and Francismilker... its great for keeping you up and moving and doing things, and I'd also agree that you've got a great deal in buying from your neighbor, BUT nothing beats the satisfaction of that glass of milk you 'earned' in labor and love with your cow!

The emotional satisfaction I get from my two girls is as much a benefit as the milk. And Im thrilled that my kids are learning just what it really takes to produce the food and milk that we consume. We have a huge garden and we're raising our own pork, beef, and milk this year. Quite a switch from this time last year when we were totally dependent on the grocery store for what we consumed.

[matt_man]

How much is costs to feed really depends on what you feed, and how much the cow needs to maintain weight and production. Quality of forage available.

Our two cows cost us less than $2.50 a day to feed, that includes what it cost us in hay last winter and we were feeding a couple of calves as well.

We feed alfalfa pellets and beet pulp at milking time. We use not quite a bag of alfalfa (9.50 a bag) a week probably every nine days, so $1 a day there. The bag of beet pulp ($10) lasts about 5 weeks so that is 35c a day. That is feeding two milk cows so you could 1/2 that to be 67c per day per cow. Just one of the milk cows probably ate about .51c worth of hay per day if you average it out over 365 days. We fed hay from October through the first part of April.

So each cow costs us less than $1.25 a day to feed and we get between 3.5 and 4 gallons from one and between 3 and 3.5 gallons from the other. We drink a lot, make a lot of cheese, butter, etc... and sell milk too so we are making a nice profit from them as well.

We also feed loose minerals, kelp and salt but averaged out over the course of a year, that is not much per day.

[dirty fingers]

thanks for the input CatherineE.....

we have 5 acres butnot all of it we can use....so i have a very small field and an arena....we live on horse property not a farm....:-( shhhh dont tell...lol

someday i want to have a place i can call mine and have my animals....my garden.....my stuff....lolol

i have not tried sheeps milk....he had a gurnsey cross when i was a kid...loved that cow...she raised 4 calves a year if we did not milk her. a smaller sized cow wold be better for me...i will have to look into things now so i will be ready for my someday.
someday i want to have a place i can call mine and have my animals....my garden.....my stuff....lolol