Raw Milk?

[sss3]

Here, raw milk is $10 gal.  Why is that?  Other than on these types of sites, I've never known anyone to buy it.  Is it because there's not much of a supply?  I'd buy some; to make cheese, but at that price can't afford it.  Realized I probably posted in wrong forum.  Maybe it needs to be moved.

[krisinmi]

Here in MI, you can only get raw milk if you are in a herd share; can't buy it but you can own a 'share' of what your (rented) cow provides each week. When I looked into it a few years ago, it ran about $6 a gallon (monthly 'board' on your piece of the cow divided by 1 gallon per week for 4 weeks of the month). I'd imagine it is higher now since feed prices (hay and grain) have gone up a lot in the last several years.

Goat milk is even higher, maybe because they produce less than a cow?

[Ken]

I get 4 gallons a week from a local small organic dairy.  $6/gallon

[mzgarden]

illegal to sell/buy here too, including as pet food, etc, unless you have a herd share.

[jamiecatheryn]

The regular pasteurized homogenized stuff is subsidized and the price regulated, around $8 give or take a bit seems to be the actual cost of good cows' milk. Goat milk costing more seems to be an economy of scale thing, less demand for it so they produce less supply, I don't know my husband is the economist not me. A cow will give like 4x the milk a goat will but eats way more so I doubt it's production cost.

[sss3]

Ads here say, 'not for human consumption.'  Then they list all the good things about how clean their place is, etc.

[Deleted]

When we were milking goats we calculated how much it cost us to produce the milk, not including labor, and figured it was about $7/gallon which was twice the cost of cows milk at the time. It's illegal to sell it here, too.

[Wendy]

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not saving money, but it sure tastes much better & I know what's in it & how it was handled.

[krisinmi]

May 7, 2015 2:48:34 GMT Wendy said:

Yeah, I'm sure I'm not saving money, but it sure tastes much better & I know what's in it & how it was handled.

I love it.  Have from time to time gotten my hands on both raw cows milk and raw goats milk.  They are both noticably better than the white stuff in plastic jugs at the store.

[Deleted]

I sell raw goat milk legally here in NY. I charge $10 a gallon. It costs me about $4 a gallon to produce. I have a large customer base that travels over an hour to get here on a weekly basis.

[Wendy]

I could do herdshares here if I wanted. I may if I get my herd built up.

[Wendy]

Besides, goats are fun!

[Deleted]

Goats are the best farm animals EVER

[Deleted]

I can't wait until I can get some goats.

[claytonpiano]

I want a jersey!!! They are hard to find here. Everyone has Holsteins

[Deleted]

Somewhere I came across videos that told of people hospitalized in ICU with e-coli from drinking raw goat milk, told by the individual themselves or their family member. I think it was on the CDC or FDA site. I had been very impressed with the benefits of raw goat milk until I saw the videos. I wish I could remain ignorant! I'm wondering though, if those of you who drink raw milk use milking machines, theoretically keeping any little bugs from dropping down from above? I've never had raw goat milk but was looking forward to it when I got my goats (some day).

[Wendy]

I milk by hand. I don't feel we are at anymore risk from the milk we drink then we are from things in the store. Look at how often things are recalled that are processed in large plants. I know how I handle my milk & how clean I am. If a goat puts a foot in the bucket the milk goes to the cats. Any dirt that happens to fall in the bucket will get filtered out when I strain it. I wipe them down before I milk to get rid of the dirt & loose stuff hanging on them. I also feel like the government tries to scare us into thinking raw milk is so dangerous. Driving my car is more dangerous. I would also be curious how they knew it was the milk that caused the problem? If you get sick & they know you drink raw milk, they will almost always blame that without testing anything.

[Ken]

May 14, 2015 14:25:10 GMT Wendy said:

I also feel like the government tries to scare us into thinking raw milk is so dangerous. Driving my car is more dangerous. I would also be curious how they knew it was the milk that caused the problem? If you get sick & they know you drink raw milk, they will almost always blame that without testing anything.

I agree with this assessment.

There are plenty of stories of people getting sick from raw milk, but there are also plenty of stories of people getting sick from dead milk (store-bought).  I know my dairy farmer and have seen the facilities and love the raw milk!

[Deleted]

You guys are making me feel a lot better about raw goat milk. It might take me awhile before I can feel like I can give it to my grandkids though!

[Wendy]

It also makes the BEST ice cream!

[Muller's Lane Farm]

I'm with claytonpiano ... no goats for us. Friends have been keeping their Jersey heifer here the past year. They're now talking about getting her bred .... then said we could have as much milk as we wanted if we would do the milking .....      ...  with no children here, we might go through a gallon a month.  


Of course, I could make cheese again, but even that isn't enough for us to want to milk again every day, twice a day. 

[Ken]

But goat milk has a peculiar taste (I've heard it referred to as 'barnyard flavor').

Love the raw cow milk though!

[Muller's Lane Farm]

May 15, 2015 13:44:15 GMT @redfish said:

But goats are sooo much cuter, so much more fun and so much easier to manhandle if they throw a fit.

I had a friend that had a dairy cow and I don't know if she was typical or not, but she really soured me on cows. She was a pain to milk, a pain to catch and really had no issues going through multiple fences to go walkabout on a weekly basis. I always helped to find and catch her and milked for my friend when they went somewhere. No thank you!!!

The only advantage I can see to a cow is the amount of cream. I really would like to have more cream than my girls can give me. Also, with my pastures, the goats do better. I'd have to feed a dairy cow all year round out here. You people back east are just spoiled with all that moisture and grass.

I never found goats to be cute ... something with those eyes ....  I can just get lost in the beautiful eyes of a Jersey

Our jerseys never threw a fit.  Your friend's cow sounds like a holstein. We had a holstein steer one year for beef that was a real brat and loved to challenge & jump fences (much like a goat). Our jerseys have always been 'in your pocket' type of cows & steers.  There were a few we could even milk without a stanchion.

Nope, I'll never be a goat person ... but I sure am glad some folks can find their beauty.

[oldmania]

How times have changed. The family of one of my friends when I was growing up in the 1950's had a small dairy. We used to buy the milk for $.50 a gallon. It came in glass gallon jars with wax paper under the lid. When we picked up our milk, we returned the jars from the previous week. I don't think the government was involved. A simpler time.

[Wendy]

If handled properly goat milk really doesn't taste any different from cow milk. I have given it to people & they had no idea it was from a goat. I think a lot of the problem is in the person's mind that is drinking it.

[jamiecatheryn]

It might taste weird if a buck was around the doe or from certain breeds of goat. My children don't like Saanan milk.

[Wendy]

Again, even if a buck is with the does it would make the taste bad only because you didn't clean the doe off well enough before. It's not like the buck can contaminate inside of the doe's udder. That milk will come out clean. I just bought a couple of Saanens & haven't been able to tell the difference from the Nubians. I think a lot also has to do with what you are feeding them. I am going to breed them to my Nubian buck this fall & that should make some real nice crosses!

[misskay]

We've been raising and milking registered Guernsey's for years and drink our milk raw. I think the family the video was talking about got sick after the farmer had dealt with some really wet weather and mud and muck was everywhere. He should have known there was more of a risk of dirty water dripping into the bucket. At least the one I saw came to that conclusion.

We use a milking machine and I prefer it that way. It is a closed system so no dust, flies, or manure can fall in or accidently blow in. I don't want to drink milk that had these things filtered out. We filter ours and it is a very rare occasion that I find a speck of anything. If you start with clean teats and a clean machine, you will end with clean milk.

As for dealing with a cow, it really depends on the cow, how she's raised and trained, and how the person interacts with the cow. Our girls simply love what they do and we don't have to catch or lead them. When it is time to enter the barn, they are waiting on their daddy to get that door open. If he is late, they let him know. I have always been very touched to see the bond between my husband and his cows. You can really tell they love each other. We have this little yipping dog that gets out every now and then and runs to the barn. The cows hate that dog and they always run between my husband and the dog like the dog is going to hurt him. One girl even hugs him with her neck like she would a calf if a wolf were after it. When the dog gets close enough (the stupid dog is afraid of her so he is trying desperately to make it to my husband for him to pick him up) she tries to stomp him but will never let that dog reach my husband. It is really comical to watch.

To each their own I guess but we've been very happy with milking our Guernseys once a day (yep, from the very beginning) and drinking our milk raw. We thought about opening a raw dairy but here in Texas you have to be licensed and the requirements were cost prohibitive for the size dairy I would want. So, we drink our milk and sell our heifers when we get more than we need.

[my3boys]

I get organic raw milk from a local Mennonite dairy. $4-4.50/gal, depending on the time of year. We are spoiled around here.

Been buying it there for 5 years with no problems.