Trinity Acres Micro Dairy

[Justin Levi]

Hello! everyone my name is Justin my lovely wife's name is Donna, and we are in the planning stages of a micro dairy/yogurt/cheese making facility. We've been to micro dairy designs web site been in contact with them. We are planning on growing into 20 to 30 goats and 10 to 15 cows . Plans could be altered though we may not even go that big however things go in the long run we're not certain but we plan to try to be prepared for that size of operation. We will start with about 8 or 10 goats and 3 to 4 Jersey cows. We've had goats before we milked about 21 with belly pails it worked out well as far as milking goes. We didn't have a place for our milk though except the kitchen stove to make anything my wife and I both work out so we couldn't devote a lot of time to making that much cheese now we don't dairy animals and don't plan on any until this is in operation. I would like to glean from your experience in this field as far as equipment and procedures in making  and marketing yogurt @ soft cheeses as well bottling a very small scale. We want to move from working off the farm to making our living on the farm we're not desiring to be or get rich just need to slow down and enjoy life and the fruits of our labors. thank you for your help and advice Justin & Donna @ Trinity Acres.

[FRANCOIS]

10 goats and 4 cows will make it very, very tough to break even.  I'm sure some people here will disagree but from my experience, in the US, with a moderate mortgage you are looking at 50-60 goats to be able to actually make some money.  If you live in an area where you can get more for milk and cheese, you tend to be paying more taxes and fees so it breaks even.  Realise that the amount of work to keep 20 animals is only maginally less than 60 and most of the bills are the same (heat, water, lab testing etc.).  Not to discourage you, but giving you food for thought.  if you can house and graze 50 animals, you'll make more money and be able to hire a farm hand, rather than being completely dependent on your family with 20 animals.  While a few animals and a family farm sounds romantic, it can get very stressful and leave slittle room for relaxing.  trust me, I know this first hand.

[Justin Levi]

 Thanks for the reply FRANCOIS, I apreciate your honesty. The thing we are trying to do now is to not be indebetwd when we go into this situation . We dont currently have a mortgage,and don't plan on getting one we plan on this being paid for before we even buy any goats or cows the reason we want to start so small is to still be able to hold our current jobs,and hopefully grow quickly into a larger more profitable operation. As I said earlier we aren't wanting or expecting to get richat this, but we would like to earn enough to live comfortably and hire some help. I am not quite as blind to the realities of this kind of DREAMING  as I was a few years ago. I started with two older does and in a years time or slightly longer I had 21 or 22 does all milking. I didn't do any planning or preparing before I bought all the goats. With the LORDS help I wont do that this time . That is why I plan to start small, learn the best way to operate the buisness and the makeroom before I ever try to grow big enough to need to hire anyone, so my wife and I can handle it.

[FRANCOIS]

But that's my point.  The labour and cost of having 20 animals is about the same as 60 animals.   But the income is much more from 60, enought to hire someone and relax a bit.  Just my two cents. 

[Justin Levi]

but what is it going to cost me to purchas the equipment to handle that much milk?

[FRANCOIS]

I'm not familiar with the microdairy equipment but it is most likely the exacat same equipment you would need with the exception of a few more feet of milk lines, extra clusters and a bigger bulk tank. You might, and I stress might, need a larger vacuum pump.  It costs little premium to upgrade.  When I buy tanks for our factory now the cost isn't the stianless, it's the labour to weld it up so it doesn't matter much on cost if it's 30 gallons or 3000.

[steffb503]

First off where are you located.
I have a small raw dairy in NY.
We mange to maintain 20 milk goats and a bunch of other critters. At the moment we have no mortgage, have other incomes but they do not take us off the farm. The sale of milk, eggs and produce pay for the animal feed and upkeep.
Not having to leave often is important. Never fails when we are gone all day something happens or someone gets out and into trouble. These are goats after all.
We are currently building our cheese processing facility, almost done.
I am planning to start small but I already have some very good contacts with local restaurants and specialty stores, not to mention all of my already customers.
I was able to use an existing building and do all of the construction ourselves. The vat i purchased cost about $10,000.00.
I am not expecting to make any profit but hoping to pay off the vat in about 5 years.

Most important thing to remember in any retail business, Having the product to sell is the easy part. Having the customer to buy it is the hard part.

[Justin Levi]

Hello' steffb503, We are located in Oklahoma, we have the milking equipment we need, could stand to upgrade the vacume pump it is the old style that you can't get parts for anymore. Ihave located an entire 4 stall cow parlor that I'll get for maybe $1000 that has 2 milk tanks and is a pipeline system. I'm looking for advice on the floor plan of a small processing area size of room and so on. Wife and I are planning on using the existing 2 car garage as part of this venture, with modifications of course the house will be storage of product,cleaning,and packaging supplies as we are building a smaller cabin home to enjoy. I know this sounds a little strange but my plans are to have most of the investment into the processing equipment, as I have most every thing else I need. I am doing it this way #1. Is because I don't have the finances to build a brand new state of the art facility to start with. #2.If this doesn't work then we will only be out the minimal investment, instead of the 100,000 to 200,000 investment . And besides we don't want to be that big anyway. We are also offering fresh produce,eggs,and any thing else that we can grow and make on our farm. As of right now we are planning on using micro dairy designs equipment, if it will pass the inspection of the milk inspector.I f there is any better equipment out there for comparable price I would like to know about it. Any ideas on how to set up my garage to fit it all in would be greatly appreciated or ideas on how big the processing room needs to be we are not interested in total comfort just yet that will come when we pay for our new barn and double the size of our herd

[coffee joe]

Welcome to this great forum. There are several members here that run small/mini/micro creameries. I am just getting started as well at mine.
I produce about 1000 gallons(3500 liters) of cow milk per day so milk isn't the issue, what to do with it is.
I decided to make a small cheese factory to help out on the bills since the price of bulk milk is so low. Since the idea is to sell the cheese, health inspectors become a major issue. Lots on this is in other threads.
Economy of scale, with all the fixed costs makes too small a production level hard to justify. Start with a spread sheet business plan. There are many folks here more than happy to help out with any questions.
I'm in Brazil so my cost structure is totally different than in the US. For me 300 liters of milk for cheese covers expenses and 600 liters per day makes a decent return. This is counting the fact that I have to milk the cows anyway.

[Jaap Jongia]

We got some nice small equipment for micro dairies. Our cheese vats start at below 1000 euro for a basic 50 liter vat, including heating elements and cutting tool. Also available are 100 liter and 200 liter versions. We can execute them for pasteurising and with a frame with wheels for easy moving. Have a look here: http://picasaweb.google.com/blo4kka/CheeseMakingEquipment#5424089560907380450
and ere
http://picasaweb.google.com/blo4kka/CheeseMakingEquipment#5433984772958921170

If you want larger equipment, we can help too!
http://picasaweb.google.com/blo4kka/CheeseMakingEquipment#

[FRANCOIS]

If you are going to use a house to process dairy, where I assume you are also living, you will want to talk to your local inspector first.  Normally it is not allowed, same deal witha  commercial kitchen, it can't be in your house.

Good luck.  Mmmmm Brazil, never been but would like to.  I'll bet the weather is fantastic there. 

[Justin Levi]

house will be for storage.... garage rebuilt ...... moving to our new home.....

[Jason M]

I know the micro dairy that I get my milk from is pretty small.  The have 12 milkers with 16 cows total.  They are using Jerseys and they field feed the cows in the summer eating a lot of green grass and then hay and grain in the winter.  You might not have that problem in Oklahoma!

They make milk, cheese, and yogurt.  The sell their yogurt from $3.50 to $4.50 a quart at their farm and the grocery chain resells it for $6.50.  They sell TONS.  60,000 quarts a year.  And their milk goes for $3.50 a half gallon and they ONLY sell that out of their on farm shop.  They make about 5 different artisan cheeses and they vary in price but it's usually about $12.00 a pound.  It's a husband and wife farm and I don't think they have any help.

I grew up on a 200 head milk farm.  I kind of like the idea of only milking 12 cows!!  Good luck and post info when you get it up and running.

[Justin Levi]

FINALLY!!!! Some encouragement !!! THANK YOU . AND BE LOOKING FOR THE POSTING. Planning on having it up and running within a year. Hopefully ! If you know how to put me in contact with anybody in the buisness I'd appreciate it  thank you

[FRANCOIS]

I'm not saying a microdairy isn't feasible or profitable, I am just being honest and upfront that you will be a slave to the farm.  You won't be able to hire help.  If that's what your into then fine, I'm happy for you.   We need more people in this world that really enjoy getting back to agicultural roots and taking pride in their product, stressing quality over quantity.  It's just a very hard road to travel.