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Question for Raw Milk Drinkers


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We just had a thread on this a while back, but:

 

1. We buy our milk from an Amish farm a mile from our house. :) We know and love the family...I do a bunch of driving for them and their friends/family nearby.

 

2. Their price just went up to $4/gallon. It was $3.75. My friend (the owner) said it was b/c the rising cost of supplies and fuel. I don't mind the cost...so much better than store bought!

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We just started doing this. We get ours from a neighbor. He won't take any money but uses a lot of sugar for his bees and their honey so when we get a gallon we always leave a five pound bag of sugar at his place. It comes out to about 2.75 per gallon. He usually gives us fresh eggs too.

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I barter college algebra tutoring for goat's milk and goat cheese. When the goat's owners dd is finished with her algebra, I'm not sure what I'll do. She is a good friend, and she's very sympathetic to my dairy allergy, so I'm thinking she'll probably ask me to be on standby to help her son with his high school math, too.

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I barter college algebra tutoring for goat's milk and goat cheese. When the goat's owners dd is finished with her algebra, I'm not sure what I'll do. She is a good friend, and she's very sympathetic to my dairy allergy, so I'm thinking she'll probably ask me to be on standby to help her son with his high school math, too.

 

What a fantastic arrangement.

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I have 4 cows that are not in milk right now, but they eat $120 in hay each week. They are little cows.

 

Their grain, plus feed for our 50 dairy goats is another $500 a month.

 

I figure we get all the dairy products we can consume for a mere $1,000 per month.

 

The lifestyle is priceless, though.

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Through a CSA and at a local grocery store. About $18/gallon (same as LibraryLover). It's kind of crazy, but I don't think the dairy folks are getting rich off it. The cows are accustomed to a high standard of living, I guess. ;)

 

I know our supplier is not getting rich. I just hope they make enough to continue on. I can't tell you the thrill I get when I see their cows on their grass! They are so happy & adorable!! Great town ambiance as well. :001_smile:

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Just wanted to add that I've read quite a few old books on nutrition, household management, and child care, and the authors often remarked on how difficult and expensive it was to get good food in the city. (They were writing in the days before canned, frozen, and heavily processed foods were so widespread. Apart from white flour and sugar, "whole foods" were pretty much the norm.) This is one of the reasons why country life was always thought to be healthier for children. This was especially true when looking at lower-income families in both places. But in many cases, even fairly well-off families in the city wouldn't eat as well as families of modest means in the country. The exception would be the very rich, who could have fresh food brought in regularly from their own country estates.

 

I guess not much has changed. Although it's good that we now have the option of CSA shares and farmer's markets for those of us who are unable to maintain a manor of our own, LOL.

Edited by Eleanor
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Hey, thanks everyone. Here's why I ask. We live on a Northern CA farm and have 2 milk cows that we milk for ourselves and allow a few other close friends to come milk. As my husband transitions from his office job to full-time on the farm, we are trying to decide if it makes sense to begin a herdshare here. Problem is, our cost of hay this year was $260 per ton....pretty typical of the West Coast....making our cost of milk about $2.70 per gallon IN THE COW. That is before we do any labor to get it out of the cow, into the jar, market it, etc.

 

So your responses are helpful. I know the cost of production is much less in other parts of the country. On the West Coast, our hay is being exported to China. Those of you who are getting fresh milk for $4 a gallon...wow. Go kiss your farmer.

 

It also seems, from your responses, that milk of all kinds on the West Coast is more expensive. Organic, homogenized, is $4 a half gallon here. Raw milk from the retail store is $8 per half gallon.

 

We will probably need to charge $8-$10 a gallon through our herdshare.

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We're lucky (and also in northern CA). We have a friend who raises chickens, meat animals, and has a cow for milking, so we get raw milk for $6 a gallon.

 

However, the cow in question is now pregnant - whoo hoo! - so her milk production is dropping, and in December, they're stopping milking until late next spring. I'll either end up buying organic (and non-raw) Clover milk or Strauss at $6-8 a gallon, or Organic Pastures raw milk at $8 a half gallon. :glare:

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I drive about 15 miles out of town to buy raw milk from a little family run farm. It costs $6/gallon, which I consider to be a great deal. I pay about $6 in gas to get out there, but the fact that my daughter can see where her food comes from is priceless. Not to mention the farm eggs are the best things in the world!

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When I was in San Jose, I bought mine at Whole Foods. I don't remember what I paid for it. In San Diego, I had home delivery from Alta Dena Dairy.

 

Here in Texas, the only way to get raw milk is to be part of a co-op (at least, where I live). A gallon was about $7.

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I just started buying raw again after a few years away from it. Raw (Nubian) goat milk from a local farm for the baby at $5 per half gallon. (Skin is now almost completely clear:hurray:). Raw Jersey milk for the olders from a dairy farther away that is sold through our health food store for 10.95 per gallon.

 

Both worth every penny!!

 

Good luck to you all with the transition.

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