When compared to store bought milk many people react by saying, “wow that’s expensive!” when you tell them the price of whole raw milk. As a dairy farmer, I want to shed some light on how pricing works and show that the pricing of these products is in no way an attempt to “get rich quick” (well at least not a successful one anyway!)
Initial Setup-
First, there is the initial purchase of our land, proper fencing, proper fence bracing the barn and the numerous other misc supplies needed (water troughs, seed to reseed pastures etc). Fencing in and cross fencing 2.5 acres alone ran us about $5,000. to use secure and safe fencing for the animals. You can NOT skimp here! Many people are not responsible with their animals and let their dogs run loose which can attack and kill cows/calves. For the safety of our animals we had to entirely enclose the area and use additional electric. This is not a onetime purchase as fencing deteriorates, or gets damaged and constantly needs work and management.
Housing-
Housing is the next necessary step. Yes, you may have trees on your property but your animals need a proper shelter. You can go simple or not but either way this is another large expense.
Cattle Purchase-
Once you get your land and shelter managed there is the initial cost of the cattle and immediate supplies needed just for milking. Cows aren’t cheap. Quality cows really aren’t cheap. Disease tested and not “cull” cows definitely aren’t cheap. Tested, quality, and heritage breed cows- well prepare for sticker shock. Our cows aren’t large dairy or auction rejects. Our farm is working on plans to help preserve the Guernsey breed through a breeding program. No small, or cheap, endeavor. Why do we choose this? Breed preservation is very important to us but the quality of milk from this breed is the cornerstone to our business as we want to offer the best quality that we can.
Time to Milk-
For milking, our machine alone was around $2,000. That does not include any extras needed. Additional pails, filters, chemicals for sterilization (adhere to organic practices), teat dips, and much more add up quickly and are constant expenses and not any of them can be skipped for the health of the animals.
People say horses are expensive to feed, and they are, however a lactating cow has some serious feed needs! Cows can be extremely delicate with their systems. An imbalance in minerals can cause a cow to go down. The saying goes, a down cow is a dead cow. Too much feed or too much of the wrong feed can cause a cow to bloat and die. Improper feeding can cause milk fever at calving and result in a dead cow and an orphaned calf. Proper feeding is a delicate balancing act and one that must always be monitored by the farmer. Our cows are working hard to provide milk. Any woman that has breastfed knows the feed requirements. No imagine producing gallons a day! Quality and proper quantity is vital. We do NOT feed “cow hay” or moldy nasty cheap hay. We feed our cows the same thing as our horses- and sometimes better.
The above are only scratching the surface of the expenses required for keeping a dairy cow. However, the biggest expense of being a dairy farmer is TIME. We are married to the farm. We cannot simply skip milking or feeding when we are tired, the weather is bad, or we want to go on vacation. Milking needs to be done approximately every 12 hours and this is vital to the health of the animals. Deviation from this can result in mastitis and infection which can permanently damage the cow’s udder or even lead to death if not detected soon enough. Twice a day we have to not only milk, but feed, inspect the cows, prepare the equipment, sterilize the equipment, clean the milking parlor and stand, filter, chill and store the milk. This obviously also doesn’t include gas and time driving to and spent at markets as well.
Next time you think that a farmer’s product is expensive, please remember this post. Think about the time invested, the money invested, and the upkeep that the farmer is putting into their products. This is truly a labor of love for all farmers and definitely not something that we do to get rich quick or to take advantage of our customers. Do not for a moment think that this post is about complaining, this is simply to explain the “life of a farmer” for those that aren’t exposed to it on a regular basis. We love this life and have chosen it and will continue to do so.
