Dumb questions about making butter & selling milk products

I use a food processor to make butter. Mine is around 7 cups, but you should go for the biggest you can afford. It is nice to not have to hand churn the butter for 20 minutes. Don't try to use a stand mixer! They are very messy, even when tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. You'll get cream all over the kitchen.

If you sell just to your friends and neighbors, you can probably get away with selling the raw milk. If you want to be safe and legal, you can set up a cowshare program so customers become part-owners of the cow. A cow owner can drink their own cow's milk. You have the people sign a bill of sale and pay a small fee for part of the cow. Mine is $15. You still charge for the milk and other products, but you must call the prices "production costs" - what it takes you to take care of and feed their cow.

If you are wondering if it is worth it to own a dairy cow, I would definitely say YES. The milk and other products are so much better than storebought, and you can even earn some money doing this. I bought my cow in the middle of June 2003 for $750. Transportation cost around $200 (ferry ride too). I probably started selling milk sometime in July. She was dried off in October. In that time I paid for both of those fees, and she was only giving an average of 1.5 gallons per day. This was before I started the cow share program. My "dairy" is listed on 2 websites (since November) and I have already had over 30 people call, wanting raw milk.

If you need a cowshare document, I can email you a copy of mine. You can also visit my website at http://bantams.the-kozaks.com/Creamery

I hope this helps!

 

In IL it is legal to sell raw milk from the farm as long as the buyer brings their own container.

Is it worth it! Oh my Yes! We paid for our Jersey with the milk she produced.

 

bantams,
I may need to up the price of my products!!

Iris is beautiful!

Here's a picture of our Dolly
http://www.mullerslanefarm.com/mlfHeritageAnimals.html

 

Go to http://www.real-food.com/ and visit the discussion board with any questions. Joann (your book's author) answers all your questions there - very helpful. KFC is a wonderful book.
Go to http://www.jerseydirectory.com/ and start to visit some herds, talk with the owners, and get to know what to look for in a good family cow.
Do you want a Jersey cow?

 

I read a few of the article on raw milk. Does it change the milk that much if you go a head an pasturize the milk before you sell it. make butter or cheese give it away or doing a cow share. Does that help on the raw milk issue as fare as legal issues or different state isuues. Im right on the border of nc and sc. live in nc. In nc it is illegal to sale raw milk. In sc it is legal to sale raw milk. It is illegal to take milk from nc and sell raw milk in sc. I havent checked on the butter or cheese issue. I dont want to go through the usda issue. I want to hand milk in the cleanest enviorment that I can and may get read off some extra milk. Im considering just buying holesteins and bottle feeding just not to deal with all the raw milk issues. Help. Arnold

 

FlipFlopFarmer -
I use the Cuisinart food processor with the metal blade that it came with.
Did you read the article by Jo Robinson about me on the Products/Prices page? I don't do 4-H with my cow, but I have been in 4-H with my chickens for 6 years.
I learned a lot by visiting different Jersey farms and talking to the owners, and reading KFC.

Mullers Lane Farm -
Dolly looks like a wonderful cow! I also like your turkeys.

 

I can only speak for Texas, a home pastuerizer is NOT acceptable if you intend to sell the milk as pastuerized. The kind of pastuerizer they require has multiple temp sensors, and recording ability for temps during the pastuerization, and they start at around $7K.

Pastuerization kills pathogens (bad stuff), but also kills all digestive enzymes in the milk (good stuff). You are using a 'dead' food. We are comfortable testing animals for TB/Bruc/Johnnes diseases, and keeping the milk raw.

A low profile will help you, the cowshare agreement particularly, if you want to get your extra milk to people. If you decide to feed animals, no regulatory agency in the world is going to care.

Hope this helps.

 

Some people get around the regulations by advertising and selling raw milk for pet consumption only. Once it leaves your property usage is no longer your responsibility.

Mom use to feed the dogs a raw egg beaten up in a bowl a milk a couple of times a week. They always had nice shiny coats.

Ken S. in WC TN

 

P.S. Once you have people coming for pick up, consider what else might be sold to them. Farm-fresh eggs? Homemade bread? Butter or cream? Excess garden produce? Rabbits? Broilers or spent hens? Ducks? Thanksgiving turkeys? Unclorinidated well-water?

On the rabbits and poultry, a way around regulations is to sell them live, and then either not charge extra (or a monimal fee) to process them.

Read somewhere where one place did sell their well-water. As I recall charge was $.25 per gallon for a pumpage fee on an honor system.

Ken S. in WC TN

 

Where in Oregon do you live? I know a family-cow owner who lives in Monument, she said you are welcome to visit.
Why don't you go to Joann's site, and talk to Rose on the message board. http://www.dream-tool.net/tools/messages.mv?index+joannsdiscussiongroup
That's great that you found some nearby Jersey dairies.

 

Oops - I posted too soon. Here is a new dairy that is near Portland.
Skamokawa: Vieira's Homestead Farm, Michael and Kya Vieira, 105 E. Valley Rd., Skamokawa, WA 98647, (360) 795-3795. Raw milk from grass-fed Milking Shorthorns.