Certified Organic
Canaan, Vermont
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About Us
Raw Milk Dairy
Last updated : 02/02/09
We
are now operating a small raw milk dairy to supply farm fresh Jersey
milk. The milk from our cows is nutritious, unprocessed, and
naturally Probionic. The
quality of
the milk, the health of the cows and a pleasurable service to our
customers will be the primary objective of our dairy. We bottle
our milk in 1/2 gallon Mason jars. The milk cost is $4.00
per half gallon. There is a $2.00 deposit for the Mason jar.
Come by the farm see the cows and pick up some milk.
We have a herd of 6 registered Jersey cows and two calfs. The herd consist of 3 cows Holly, Elsie and Rhubarb, 3 hiefers Ruby, Lucy and Pansy and the calf Violet and George. We are now milking Holly, Rububarb and Elsie. We now have a steady milk customers base but are looking for more as we increase our the milk production. Stop in and visit with the cows and see our farm.
Farm activities to date:
1. Pictures of the cows.
Holly Grazing in Field
Rhubarb grazing
Lucy our Yearling grazing
Ruby
Pansy is growing up
2. The upgrade to the outside of the barn has been completed. The old tin was removed and new board and batten siding was installed and a larger door was put in. Also added a new exhaust fan for fresh air. We then painted the barn red. Compare the old and new barn.
Old Barn picture
Remodeled barn is ready for the cows
3. We removed the 1250 gallon tank in the milking parlor and fixed up the area to milk in the milking room.
4. The milk room was remodeled opening up the area into a milk room and an equipment room. We added gas heating in the equipment room and milk room so the water would not freeze. We also added a dual cow head catch to allow us to milk in the heated milking room.
5. We created a free stall area in the barn for the cows. All the cows have there own pen so we can feed them individually. We added a 100 gal heated water tub for all the cows to drink from in the free stall.
We are using the Vermont raw milk law to legally sell our raw milk on the farm. We are allowed to sell 50 quarts per day at the farm under present Vermont law.
Rural Vermont is working with the Vermont Dept. of Agriculture on developing a Raw milk licensing law to allow unlimited raw milk sales on the farm but that is not in place now. When we get above the 50 quarts per day limit we would need a cow share program to increase our production if the law is not changed by then.
A cow share plan is a way that a person can legally obtain raw milk by becoming the owner of the cow. There would be a one-time fee to buy part of the cow. Then as the owner of the cow you will be entitled to a percentage of her production. We envision that one share will entitle you to at least two gallons of milk per week. The money paid to obtain the milk is not for the milk but for the services of the farmer, supplies and feed for the cow.
If you are within 300 miles of our farm and would be interested in being a part of this cow share program please email us and leave your name, phone number, location and the number of gallons per week you would be interested in. We will keep your name on file and contact you when we are getting closer to having our dairy operational. Your name and information will be held confidential.