15 min east of MWC.
Family had a diary like I posted before, and I always said it would suck to not get vacation unless you had folks to sit for you.
They had a hard time keeping up with the new regulations that were developing. Great uncle had an eye kicked out by a cow. He couldn't afford much medical care, so they just sewed it shut.
My first time with a gun was using bird shot in a .22 rifle in that dairy barn. Turn the lights off, listen for the mice to start running around the wood frame, turn the lights on, and shoot that old bolt action gun until they went away.
Ran around and found chicken nests in the hay barn. Good times.
They had a hard time keeping up with the new regulations that were developing. Great uncle had an eye kicked out by a cow. He couldn't afford much medical care, so they just sewed it shut.
My first time with a gun was using bird shot in a .22 rifle in that dairy barn. Turn the lights off, listen for the mice to start running around the wood frame, turn the lights on, and shoot that old bolt action gun until they went away.
Ran around and found chicken nests in the hay barn. Good times.
Researching regs, it's a hassle. Probably find a legal loophole like a coop or donations. Not that I want to avoid them, I've just heard some horror stories about enforcement. They can go after someone for selling milk but steal a billion dollars and it's all good.
Sounds a little intriguing, I drank a lot of raw milk growing up and didn't really consider it anything different other than curd type floaties and richer taste. Are you trying to operate as a business, if so I wonder what the liability insurance is for selling raw milk? Raw milk is one of the riskiest food products to consume, a lot of risk for bacteria and illness. You need to check the statutes but I think if you sell on the farm you might be OK, when you are transporting or selling off site is where you might need a milk permit maybe, pretty sure transporting is just fine unless you cross state lines then you have federal laws to deal with.
The farm is a business itself so I guess milk would be included in that. I have no idea about insurance. I would prefer something more coop type with limited liability. You would be able to look at our operation and storage to see if there was something that might concerned you. I would hate for anyone to get sick but it would be worse if I got sued if they took it home and didn't store it properly or something. I have looked into pasturizing but it cooks out all the nutrients. Big operations don't have to be as careful because its pasteurized, homogenized, and all that jazz. They can get some feces, blood, urine, and whatever else in there and come out okay. Kinda gross when you think about it.
Just like every other processed food product... there are actually federal regs about the permissible parts per million for rat droppings and other stuff. Yuck.
I'm not sure what your ultimate goal is, but you need to "size" your milk cow, to the amount of milk production you need. I used to own a few non-dairy cows, ran them on my father-in-laws land. He decided since he had the free labor (me), that he would buy some young steers and a Holstein milk cow, and let them nurse off her. Three young steers couldn't keep up with her milk production and one of her teats became swollen and inflamed, she developed mastitis, my wife and I doctored her and got her healed up. I advised my FiL, to sell her, but he didn't, when she freshened up the next year, the problem reoccur ed and she got down and died. Holstein's produce massive quantities of milk, if I didn't have the market for the milk, I would go with a Jersey or some other breed that produced a more moderate amount of milk. As others have pointed out dairy cows are a lifetime commitment.
Wonder how much milk the young lady in your avatar would produce...?
We ran this exact operation several yrs. ago. Milked 3 cows(jersey and brown swiss) and sold milk, cream, butter, and eggs. Had an old refrigerator sitting on back carport and customers would help themselves. Pick up whatever the needed and left money in unlocked cash box. Don't believe we ever lost dime. Strictly honor system, and never worried about getting sued. After expenses, you'll make very little money. the biggest advantage will be fresh products and teaching your kids good work ethics. Good luck and enjoy the lifestyle.
