We have babies on the ground! And with that comes milk, milking, milk testing, preparation, storage and finally TRANSPORT. (In case you don’t know, transport is when it actually shows up here at the store.)
We know for certain that we will have raw goats milk on 2 March and we may even have some cows milk on that date as well. For certain we’ll have both cow and goat milk on 9 March.
Now to try and answer the questions I think people will have.
Can I reserve some milk for me?
No. We do not reserve raw milk. It is first come, first serve. We do not, and we have never had, enough milk for everyone. We’ve held milk in the past for people, who then didn’t show up. So if you are frustrated at why we won’t hold milk, blame your peers.
Do I need to join the herd share to buy milk?
If you are planning on drinking it, yes. Also if you are planning on getting yoghurt, butter, etc. All of those items require you to be a part of the herd share. If you are only purchasing the milk for your pet, then you do not have to join to herd share. However, we charge $2 more per gallon for non-herdshare purchases so if you plan to buy all season, it is cheaper to join.
What does the herdshare cost to join?
We charge the cost of a gallon of milk to join. At that point your name goes on the list for this season and you are free to purchase.
What does a gallon of milk cost?
I don’t know. Pricing has been insane lately on everything and our dairy farm manager is still getting her costs together. I’m sorry, I wish we had a better idea but pricing has been crazy. Last year it was $12 for a gallon, $14 if you were not part of the herdshare. I expect it will go up once we get pricing but that is a moving target, as I said. We’ll have pricing in the store by the time we have milk.
Is there a limit to how much milk I can buy?
Yes, especially in the beginning. Everyone wants to get milk and there is only so much to go around. Jeanette will be limiting milk purchase in the store until our supply and demand stabilizes. Once that happens we will probably get a little more flexibility in what you can purchase at once. One thing to know is if you are wanting to freeze milk, let Jeanette know so she can put you on a first call list for when we get to Saturday and still have some milk. It does happen occasionally.
Are you going to dry off again this winter?
I don’t know that either. The plan wasn’t to dry off this winter. But you know what they say about plans and contact with the enemy. This year, I’m hoping we can be on reduced milking instead of being completely dried off, but we’ll have to see how the year goes.