Missouri milk parlor requirements?

Alice In TX/MO · #1 04/12/08, 09:51 PM

Does someone have a link for the Missouri milk parlor requirements?

steff bugielski · #2 04/13/08, 05:18 AM

No, but for NY you call the department of Agriculture, milk division and they send out a very wordy booklet.

Alice In TX/MO · #3 04/13/08, 07:23 AM

Yes, that's part of the problem. I can find a document with lots of words, and things are buried in it that say that it must have a concrete floor. I'm sure that somewhere there's better info.

yarrow · #4 04/13/08, 09:32 AM

I'm not sure what you are looking for? Grade A? then it's concrete floor, drains, windows a certain height, doors that swing the correct direction, walls & ceilings have rules..I think there's something about what the stanchions can be made from too. Where your bulk tank is located maybe part of it... can't forget the BATHROOM.. tons of stuff. Not even sure who you have to have come to check things. I know you have to send your milk off to be tested. I know there's got to be someone, just never really looked in to it, once I read what all is required. I don't guess there are really any requirements for housing, but you would also need doe housing (I seperate my older does from my dry yearlings. Can't imagine a dairy that doesn't pull kids, so you would also need not only a kidding area, but places for bottle babies. I seperate by them by age. I also have a new buck barn under construction. We feed square bales,so that means LOTS of barn space taken up.
If you are just wanting to milk and sell raw..you just milk in whatever set-up suits you and then find customers, that are comfortable with your set-up. Everyone's place is different. Everyone has different standards of clean LOL. I know I'd buy Coso's milk in a heartbeat. (he's one of your neighbors already selling goat milk, then your other neighbor who is already selling milk -on your same road.. I wouldn't buy drinking milk from.. love her, but been there, seen her set-up) I can tell you now, with the the price of feed, worming/drugs, just up keep of that many goats. The money output is horrible. You would have to milk LOTS & LOTS of goats to make a Grade A, worth the cost. We crunched numbers..no way for us, it was mind boggling..(not to mention the never ending work, day in, day out. Even with less then 30 does, during busy times, the work here is very trying at times. We live drop dead tired. During kidding season, it maybe days before I can even run into Alton LOL, last year we lived on pop tarts and cheez-its for a week)
We are putting in a parlor this spring. (simply to attempt to make milking & herd care, easier on us) I'm already out 2 grand on my milking machine.. with us doing almost all the work ourselves, I'm guessing my parlor will cost at least 5 to 6 thousand more.. and no way are we attempting to get a grade A. It would cost me many times that. I know it will NEVER pay for it's self... and neither will the herd. Everyone around here seems to either buying goats or jerseys. I have waiting lists for does & heifers. The going price here, for a gallon of good tasting, clean, yummy sweet goat milk here is 5 dollars TOPS...you can also find it for 4 (which is what I sell for) and down to 3. Once all the newly bought does & heifers mature and those herds begin to have more milk then they can personally use and begin to sell, it will be a scramble to find folks to sell to.. if I didn't love my nubians... I'd cut my losses now, get rid of the goats & cows. Save myself tons of work and about 600 dollars a month (esp during the winter months) feed/hay/minerals/wormer and such.
But, I've never been overly smart

The goats will be here until we go totally broke because of them LOL
susie

nappint · #5 04/13/08, 11:02 AM

I know I'm not in your state but I just wanted to tell you that we've been looking into the same thing in Texas - I found the requirements online and to say that it was discouraging is an understatement! Some of the different sections contradicted one another and with all the different things it seemed we needed we just didn't know how we could afford it.

.....So what I did was find a certified Grade A goat dairy owner who was willing to talk to us and show us around his set up (for a fee - that I was happy to pay

) I was shocked at how EASY and not-too-expensive it will be! I feel sooo much better now and the owner even offered to give us the phone number for his inspector so when we are closer to being ready we can call him and get the number for the inspector in our area (We tried calling the state and they were a bit useless)

Is there a way you can get the number to your local inspector or talk to someone who is already certified?

Alice In TX/MO · #6 04/13/08, 02:57 PM

Yes, I looked at the regulations for Texas. If I win the lottery, I might do it. ROFL!!

We are winters in Texas, summers in Missouri, so that's why I was asking about Missouri.

Yes, Yarrow, I know what you mean about neighbors. BTW, Walnut didn't 'do the deed' successfully with either of our does.

We know we are going to need to build something, and we're trying to decide how far to go with our design. I need another project like I need a hole in the head, so I definitely do NOT want to go Grade A, but a nice milk parlor and milk processing area would be nice.:baby04:

yarrow · #7 04/13/08, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rose

Yes, I looked at the regulations for Texas. If I win the lottery, I might do it. ROFL!!

We are winters in Texas, summers in Missouri, so that's why I was asking about Missouri.

Yes, Yarrow, I know what you mean about neighbors. BTW, Walnut didn't 'do the deed' successfully with either of our does.

We know we are going to need to build something, and we're trying to decide how far to go with our design. I need another project like I need a hole in the head, so I definitely do NOT want to go Grade A, but a nice milk parlor and milk processing area would be nice.:baby04:

Hmmm.. that's odd that Walnut didn't get either of them bred... he had no problem with the other does she bred him to. Didn't you end up borrowing another buck. Did you end up with pregnant does?
I was wondering about the summer milking in MO. I'm guessing some folks like it. I ***HATE*** summer milking here. Hence my decision to breed as many does as possible to kid in Oct! I also try to kid as early in Jan/Feb as possible. That way I have no real guilt when I dry everyone up in late July, early Aug... But, I have no problem going out to milk when it's single digits.
susie

Alice In TX/MO · #8 04/13/08, 06:31 PM

Yarrow,
Only Pumpkin (the fence jumping Nubian) got bred here in Texas. She's due in May.

Orange (the Alpine herd queen) is open, according to BioTracking. She's the one who's milking through. I'm getting over 1/2 gallon per day. She kidded a year ago last February.

I think she's just too hard headed and bossy to get bred.

Has Missouri milk law changed? We can sell raw milk to customers without all the certification? Or.... one just sells for 'pet use'?

I don't mind summer milking. It has been in the low 80's here already, so Missouri is going to feel like going back to late winter.

christij · #9 04/13/08, 09:46 PM

There is a law in the legeslative branch introduced by Rep. Harris revising some language stating it is legal for an individual to sell to another person off of their farm or deliver to a person. The last I heard the Milk Board was working with Rep. Harris's office -- AKA not causing any trouble.

steff bugielski · #10 04/14/08, 05:34 AM

I know here in NY the requirments are about 80 pages. But if you read through each section it is not so bad. Every one says it is too exspensive to do, well we did it on about $300.00 total. We were able to do all the work ourselves and got alot of the equiptment free.
I bet you could make an appointment with one of the inspectors to walk you through with what you need. Remember the fewer goats you are milking,( note I did not say you had), then the smaller a bulk tank you need. We started with 4-5 milkers and use a 10 gallon pail as our bulk tank. That's what was approved and that is what I still use today milking 20.
Rose You can PM me with each line of your regs maybe I can help. I have gone over the ones for NY with a fine toothed comb. I bet they are pretty much the same.
Also if you can sell milk raw there is no need for a pastuerizer, big bucks. Even if you do not believe in raw milk the customer can always home pastuerize.
Don't give up you can do it.
We can help!

steff bugielski · #11 04/14/08, 05:38 AM

By the way you do want a concrete floor. You want as much easy to clean stuff as possible.
Concrete is inexpensive and you can do it yourself.
My floor and milk stands are concrete. I just hose them off when I am done with a jet spray on my hose and only need to scrub a few high traffic areas.