I have been driving around to farms looking for places to buy raw milk for years. Just for grins I googled Raw Milk in CT and this link popped up!
Links for raw milk all over the country! I love the internet!
http://www.realmilk.com/where1.html (http://www.realmilk.com/where1.html)
Wonderful resource. Thank you very much!
That website is exactly how I found the farm that I get my raw milk from (http://sites.google.com/site/moomanorg/ (http://sites.google.com/site/moomanorg/)). It is fantastic.
This has been posted quite a few times. Doesn't help me as they want an arm and a leg for raw milk.
First time for me. 1,000th time for you. Does that diminish my gratefullness? Not really.
Sorry, typed late at night wasn't meant to sound stupid. I was trying to convey my anger at being able to get raw milk except for the fact it's so dam expensive. I don't understand you don't need all the homogenization equipment or pasteurization equipment and it's still more expensive.
Well it is more expensive but then you get a better yield to so is it worth it? I guess that's up to you.
I got 6 gallons comming tomorrow - 5 for cheese and 1 for yogurt - I'll let you know if it's worth it. I had to ge it through a health food store to get it locally.
Now I gotta figure out if I am using the Kardova molds or the big 8" mold I bought from Ullmers in Wisconsin. Nice stuff really heavy gauge stainless! You'd break your foot if you dropped it.
how much did you pay for that?
Here's a suggestion for finding a local source for raw milk. Make some notices and post them on the bulletin board in all the feed stores in your area. Dairy farmers will get the word, and you may have one or more call you. Also, while you're there, check with the employees at the feed store. They know all the farmers.
I didn't yet ... I pick it up tomorrow. I didn't even ask the price :o
It never occurred to me it could be ridiculaslly expensive. I'll let you know tomorrow!
I was so excited to find it I forgot to ask!
Deejay, one thing I've learned is there is usually a deposit on the jars you get your gallons from. Where I am at the deposit is $4-6 per gallon jar, so the first time I picked up 4 gallons of raw cow milk it was $6 a gallon plus $6 per jar, so five gallons was $60. Subsequent trips have been much less money, but it's something you should check.
The first time I picked up some raw goats milk, one of the gallon jars shattered in my car (Infiniti G35 sedan, best car evar), but luckily the milk was frozen. Could you imagine cleaning a gallon of goats milk out of your car?
How about this when I lived in LA I was bringing a bottle of my sparkling mead to a producer and being so hot it exploded in my car, what a sticky mess.
thebelgianpanda -
I did expect a deposit on the bottles but $6! They only have half gallons and quarts .... Yikes! That's $72 for a deposit. Last time I paid a deposit on a milk bottle it was only a dime! OPPS! I am dating myself there. :D
Oh well the store is only a few blocks away maybe I'll dump the milk real quick wash them and run right back down there. Luckily I just got my income tax check and I am really excited about trying to make cheese from real milk so I'm in now no matter what. May be the last time but I gotta try it!
God milk in a car is BAD! Good thing it was winter. I got milk in my car once the the summer and it was awful no matter what I did. I had to remove the carpet.
I did ask at one feed store but the farmers up there only sell by the truck load to big distributors. We don't have alot of big farms here anymore. I can't wait to retire and get outta here! Where I grew up is now a big commuter Yuppy village. Nothing personal if any of you are one of them - I just miss the old farms and the old farmers (may they rest in peace).
Carter - I don't know that mead would clean up in carpet very well either. At least today they have portable carpet cleaners.
@Deejay
When I was at my local supplier two weeks ago, it cost him $4 a gallon jar and he ordered 80 at a time. I think I may actually start bringing over my brewing carboys, since the price for glass doesn't seem to increase linearly with volume.
Anyway, this is my experience here in Oregon, YMMV.
Well they called already this morning to let me know the milk arrived. It's going to be $5.18/gallon half gallon for the milk and $2 a jug for the glass 1/2 gallon bottles. That's not bad. I usually buy my drinking milk at the gas station for $2.89/1/2 gallon so that's about right.
I gladly pay an extra $1/1/2 gallon to stay out of WalMart or the grocery store lines!
I guess I hear wrong or they heard wrong but it was $5.18 for a HALF gallon! YIKES! Dang tastey milk though. I haven't had real milk since I was 18. Man that went down so nice. I would be buying milk for cheese there for awhile but I may buy me a half gallon a week to drink. So sweet and creamy! Ah! heavenly!
Wow, you guys are really paying through the nose. Its illegal to sell raw milk in Wisconsin, but if I could, I would probably charge about $4 a gallon for it.
I get gallon pickle jars from a local bowling alley - soak the lids in dish soap heavy water for a couple of days and the smell comes out of them. The jars were free, and a great find I scored through craigslist.
I am hoping this EXTREME price was because it was a health food store. Made some unbelievably creamy yogurt too. Now I am really driven to find raw milk somewhere cheaper than $10/gallon!
Yeah, I have friends who buy milk through the local co-op and pay about $6 a gallon, and it is pastuerized. They would prefer raw and have tasted the milk from my cow. I'm researching cow shares and the legality of them in Wisconsin, in the hopes that we can work something out for our next lactation, which will start in June. It would sure help to pay the feed bill!
I skim my milk before making yogurt, as I use the cream to make butter. Seems like I never have enough of that!
Here in CO you can't sell raw milk, so we have cow-sharing or goat-sharing programs. It's expensive. Average seems to be a $40-50 "buy-in" and then an "upkeep" fee of $40-50 a month. For that, you get about a gallon per week of raw milk. :o I'm sure it's wonderful stuff, but with store-bought milk going for less than $2, I can't justify spending 5-7 times as much.
Well I found another source today and it only a half hour drive but $6/gallon. I ordered another 6 gallons for Friday. Nice lady too. They have an icebox in the shed and you put your money in a jar and take your milk. I paid $2.79 for a half gallon of Hood store bought milk at the grocery store tonight. So I guess that's a good price.
When you compare grocery prices with raw milk prices you have to remember that commercial dairies are subsidized in the US. The price of milk does not necessarily reflect costs in production.
In producing our own raw milk I can come in at grocery store prices per gallon with all expenses divided per gallon. Add minimum wage and it would be hard to compete. Add extensive fees, licensing, insurance,and risk- let alone profit. Ok, and then limited supply makes it worse.
$2.79 a half gallon isn't bad at all. I was talking with the guy I get it from and apparently he hasn't broke even yet selling at $6/gallon, but expects to get to break even this year. Feed and care, let alone having a place big enough to begin with, aren't cheap.
Well the $2.79/half gallon is for store bought milk and the $6/gallon is the farm fresh raw milk. So in my book that's a bargain! I don't think they make anything on it they have a small farm they are probably lucky to break even.
The woman I talked to sounded very curious about the fact that I was making cheese with it. She would like to try it someday when they have time.
Most farmer don't make much money. It's alot of work for little or no reward. God I can't wait till I retire and start my little farm in the hills!
I get 6.00 a gallon for goat milk. most milk goes into cheeses
I haven't found goats milk yet but I will!
I guess I will consider myself very fortunate. I buy raw milk from a certified organic farm for $5/gallon. I have 2 pickle jars that I swap the empty for the full. I am just thankful its not illegal in Maine. We are building up the pasture so that we can get our own cow.
WOW!! Now that may be my next state!
Here in Florida I get EL cheapo walmart brand milk for $4/gallon and raw in health food store for $9/dollar half gallon.
I have never used store milk for cheese. I would think that there would be a big difference switching back and forth from raw to store milk in cheese making techniques. Have any of you compared the two???
$9 / 1/2 gallon? I thought I got taken!
Just picked up 6 more gallons of raw milk for only $6/gallon. They use plastic bottle so no deposit either. I'll transfer some to glass bottle I have for drinking. I don't know why but I think it taste better in glass bottle. Could be all in my head.
I'm in southern Calif. We have a small market chain called Sprouts. I get mine a few days before the expiration day for less than half price.
I once bought several quarts for a dollar, it's all in the timing.
Mike
from some of the ag reports in the area they are predicting by 2012 most dairys in the us will be gone due to low milk prices and we will importing from china.kind of scary.
I haven't found much online to answer this particular question but what would you be willing to pay for raw sheep's milk?
Quote from: goat lady on May 28, 2009, 10:59:05 AM
from some of the ag reports in the area they are predicting by 2012 most dairys in the us will be gone due to low milk prices and we will importing from china.kind of scary.
How would we get fresh milk from china? On the surface, that does not seem possible. I mean, a container ship takes 10-15 days to get from Chinese seaports to the west coast of USA.
sounds scary,but how about irradiated milk. They do it for other foods to increase the shelf life. That said, that's when I get my own cow!
raw sheeps milk is going for 90 a hundred you just need to know how much a gallon weighs
Quote from: DeejayDebi on April 10, 2009, 09:15:01 PM
$9 / 1/2 gallon? I thought I got taken!
Just picked up 6 more gallons of raw milk for only $6/gallon. They use plastic bottle so no deposit either. I'll transfer some to glass bottle I have for drinking. I don't know why but I think it taste better in glass bottle. Could be all in my head.
I just did two batches of Havarti one with store bought and one with raw milk. The raw milk was definately creamier and had a smoother mouth feel. I really like the raw better. We'll see after a few months if it matters that much.
Quote from: goat lady on May 28, 2009, 08:17:20 PM
raw sheeps milk is going for 90 a hundred you just need to know how much a gallon weighs
That sounds like a bulk rate though... Farmers here in Vermont are getting about 14 cents per gallon bulk rate but are selling raw milk directly to consumers at roughly $5 a gallon. Assuming you had a local farmer selling sheep's milk per gallon, what would an individual (as in someone on this forum) be willing to pay for it?
In CO, as mentioned by someone before, we have the "co-op" livestock shares system if you want raw milk. But there aren't any really nearby me, soooo....
I used to pay $8/gal for goatmilk from a local lady with a few does.
Now I switched to a couple who raises Nigerian dwarf does for show and they sell them all over the US! So the milk is sort of an afterthought, I guess?!?! I pay $6/gal from them. And those goats live in a goat Hilton, I swear. They have a nicer pen than my house!
To buy milk in the grocery, past/homo milk is $4/gal, plus the heavy cream to counteract the homo is another $7/half gal (I buy the REAL heavy cream, not the UP stuff with thickeners added) - so raw milk is much more economical.
Store bought milk has dropped to $2.59 a gallon here that half the price it was a few months ago. I may try a few batches with half store bought and half raw at those prices.
Store bought milk is going for $1.58/gallon here. I may have to ramp up production :D
WOW! Good deal. It always amazes me how different prices can be for one area to the next.
Dang! store milk is normally about $4/gal here...shoot my raw goat milk is only $6.
But my goatman is retiring and selling his herd!!! EEK! He offered me 2 of the tamer milkers (not the best does, but the easiest to deal with). That would yield 1 gallon per day. But I don't know if it's worth it to me. Does are $500 each! That's alot of bought milk. Plus - um - I had pet goats as a kid, but I'm clueless as to actually milking one.
The hardest part of having milkers is they have to be milked twice a day so if you want to leave you need someone who is willing to take up the chore.
$500 is pretty high at least in my area heard some milkers going for $50 at the last auction. you must be looking at something pretty special for that price.I looked at a jersey cow for the same price...
I have resigned myself to using store bought milk untill i can acquire cows of my own.
It was suggested to me to post this here.
Cheese making had interested me in the past, but my problem in starting was finding raw milk in the area. The state prohibits the sale of raw milk for human consumption, and afraid of getting in trouble with the law retailers have stayed from selling it. Goat milk is another story, expensive and also hard to find.
Store bought milk can be used, I heard, by adding calcium chloride. But, I think that God intended the cheese process to happen al naturale, not al homogenated. But, I'm never saying "never."
I searched everywhere online, and in September someone from Florala advertised online about bringing raw milk (for pet consumption) to Valparaiso twice per month.
I don't know if this guy still goes to VP, but I tried to catch him a few times, but never found him.
In Pensacola there are no Whole Foods stores, the nearest is about six hours away and the local farmers markets don't carry the milk.
So I had just about given up. Then one day recently I happened to walk into a small food store in town, called "Ever Man", looking for honey... and found raw milk!
Boing! Time to get cheesy.
They also have the goat's milk, but one quart cost the same as a gallon of raw cow's milk... $5.99.
So, for anyone in my area looking for raw milk, they have it there in Ever Man's, on Garden street... don't remember the building number but it's a green and brown building on the right (if going East.)
Anyway, this is it for now. Sorry for the long blabby post. Just too excited.
:)
Raw milk makes a great cheese but store bought milk works well aso if you add calcium chlroide. I use both. For high fat cheese I use raw and for lower fat cheeses or when I am short on cash I use store bought.
Debi, is there a difference in the final product?
I mean in the taste, curd, et...
:)
Well yes I have to say yes. I find it creamier and I have to make adjustments to my cultures etc. when using raw milk. Less is more when your working with raw milk. I have however made very satisfiying cheeses using store bought milk.
Thanks Debi.
I just got an email from the Valparaiso guy I talked about before.
After almost 60 days, he answers.
The milk costs $8 a gallon, plus the coop fee, plus a sizeable order - prepaid. Then he would tell me where to pick it up.
What the ...?
Anyway, I'm going to try the store bought to see if I can make it work using the calcium chloride.
:)
Yur welcome Quesa wish I could have helped!
I was paying $6.00/gallon for a great creamline but they have new customers so I am not getting it there anymore. They want $6.00/half gallon plus $2.00 bottle deposit now.
I am back to my original farmer for $6.00/gallon but not as good a quality. Jerseys to Holsteins makes a big difference in milk but still sooooo good to drink! And this family is soo sweet. Now that we are paying for heat I will be using more store bought milk at $21 vise $42 a batch.
Quesa - Look for a non-homogenized milk. Sometimes called cream line. They are out there, just hard to find a source sometimes.
Yah, I've been looking for pasteurized non-homogenated, but no luck.
Been looking for another source of raw milk, too.
The $6 a gallon of raw milk at Ever'Man is a good price, but looking nonetheless in case I can find it cheaper somewhere else. ;)
I did take a taste of the raw milk, but afraid I was going to get sick and die. Thankfully I was okay, and I found the taste of raw milk very sweet and awesome.
I grew up in a farm and had fresh milk and produce when I was a kid, but then my father died and my mom had to sell stuff to keep it going. Cows were the first to go.
So, I appreciate natural foods and I'm thinking that one day soon I may end up going back to live in the backwoods.
:)
I don't have the exact statistics at my fingertips, but in the past 20 years hundreds of people have died from pasteurized milk. NOT ONE person has died from fresh raw milk.
Farmers depend on processing companies to buy their milk. However, if raw milk was legal everywhere, they could sell direct to the public just like they do tomatos and other produce. Cutting out the bottling companies, farmers could make twice as much as they are currently selling to the processors. Consequently, the big milk companies are constantly lobbying lawmakers about the public health "dangers" of raw milk. And they are pushing harder than ever right now.
I'm really thrilled because a couple of lawmakers have proposed a bill in Wisconsin to legalize sales of raw milk by Grade A dairy farmers. I really don't think it will pass, since big business has the bucks, while people who want to drink raw milk have a very small voice/pocketbook, I do think it is a step in the right direction that they're even thinking about it on a legislative level.
I think with the big push to go organic a lot of people are searching out local farmers for raw milk.
It's funny but one of my sons best friends (my second son for 29 years) has a lactose allergy (supposidly). He can't drink store bought milk or eat commercial products with milk but we have found out recently he can drink the raw milk I get and eat my raw milk cheeses with no ill effects.
So I have to question - what are they doing to the store bought milk?
for one thing, the somatic cell count in milk from commercial dairies is allowed to be as high as 200,000 ppm. Admittedly, those germ cells are killed off by pasturization, but when you think about it, store milk basically has pus in it. Sorry to sicken people here, but it true.
Pasturization kills off the enzyme lactase, which means that many people who don't produce any or adequate amounts of lactase themselves, are lactose intolerant. Lactase is the enzyme that digests the sugar in milk (lactose).
I also believe that homogenization distorts milk and creates even more problems than pasturization does, though I've never heard anything scientific to prove my theory.
Having been a butcher in my youth, and understanding the ins and outs of wine making, I really do think that if many folks really thought about what is actually in their food, it would turn them off.
For example, there is really very little wrong with eating spider legs, and most of us have (either when sleeping or inadvertently in our food, and most of us are non the worse for it.
A slight digression, but... If you really want to know what you're eating, read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
I agree with you completely Karen .... and Wayne although I will not eat worms! At least I don't think I will. Never been that hungry.
Off topic, but... how do we eat spider legs while sleeping if there are no spiders in our homes?
Just wondering.
:)
You may not see them, but they are there...
My sister has a definite phobia regarding spiders and she didn't sleep for about three days after someone told her how many spiders a typical person "eats" in their lifetime.
I admit that I don't like having them on me, but I find them to be fascinating creatures.
I sell my Raw Goat milk for $10/gallon and there is no deposit on jugs. All milk is bottled in 1/2 gallon plastic jugs from my local Borden plant. I don't want
them back, so no need for a deposit. None of my customers have ever balked at the price, they want it and I have it...especially during the winter months
here it is hard to get because most goat farmers dry up their girls for Spring kidding. A few of us will breed "off season" and have winter milk, but not
many. So, it is sort of a supply and demand issue.
Good for marketing I'm sure.
Quote from: Sailor Con Queso on December 26, 2009, 04:57:08 AM
I don't have the exact statistics at my fingertips, but in the past 20 years hundreds of people have died from pasteurized milk. NOT ONE person has died from fresh raw milk.
Farmers depend on processing companies to buy their milk. However, if raw milk was legal everywhere, they could sell direct to the public just like they do tomatos and other produce. Cutting out the bottling companies, farmers could make twice as much as they are currently selling to the processors. Consequently, the big milk companies are constantly lobbying lawmakers about the public health "dangers" of raw milk. And they are pushing harder than ever right now.
I think you summed it up brilliantly. It is difficult to get milk in Alberta from companies that are not one of the big dairies. The big dairies can undercut the price by packing animals inhumane feedlots. If your want to know more look at a movie called Food Inc. If you buy milk from a small guy, the smallest you will get is a mid scale dairy that can afford to pasteurize. If they allowed raw milk, you would be able to find even smaller dairies.
The risk of raw milk is existent but it is no where near the risk that people make out. In massive feedlots where most of our milk comes from raw milk is dangerous because they jam animals into inhumane conditions and infection is a problem. In a more traditional farm raw milk is only slightly more dangerous than normal milk because the animals are kept healthy. The push against raw milk is so that massive producers can cramb more cows into an area and produce the $3 a gallon milk that you buy at walmart. Also the cost of pasteurizing equiptment puts it out of the risk of the average farmer.
Remember the small farmers that sell at farmers market typically are not massive producers and they give there animals more space (in Alberta that means more indoor space for winter) and provide better healthcare (in general). Support the small guy, if you can get raw milk from them do so and remember the extra costs these farmers must endure to provide a better product. (so you wont get $3 a gallon from them)
End rant :) and yes remember to support farmers at farmers markets or by direct purchase. Damn wish I could get raw milk in Alberta.
Barter, barter, barter! I began my cheesemaking endeavor with a dairy that produces raw organic milk. After several conversations, he spoke of his love for cheese; yet, alas- no desire to make it! He gives me 5 gallons of milk a week, and I provide him with the fruits (aka the curds) of my endeavors. In addition, I provide the resources for cheese-making for all of his clients. I have begun teaching cheese-making classes in the area, and direct everyone to his dairy--and he sells his milk for $10 per gallon. Win-win for all!