I posted this in the Southeast Permies group, but I thought I'd throw the idea out here, too.
I live in the north Gilbert area (Baseline & Greenfield), and was wondering if anyone would be interested in a milk "cow-op." The idea is that we share a milk cow. This means we share the cost of a cow & setup (we have the space), share the milking and cleaning duties, and share the product, which is raw, non-homogenized milk. It would work something like this:
Benefits:
- Raw milk and cream from your own cow.
- You only get the milk you use, and don't have to deal with excess.
- You only milk once or twice/week, according to your needs.
- The costs are shared by all "members."
- You can have a cow and milk even if you live in a subdivision.
- You get training on how to milk the cow.
- You don't have to be a cow expert. Most of the care, breeding, calfing, etc. would be taken care of for you.
Duties:
Each contributor would be assigned times to milk & clean, based on their membership.
Costs:
- There would be a "membership" cost, to fund the initial setup, including the cow.
- There would be a periodic (monthly or quarterly) payment to fund supplies, maintenance, replacement costs, breeding costs, etc.
I don't know what all this would add up to yet, but it will definitely be less than keeping a personal cow. If there's enough interest, I'll research the costs to see if it's feasible.
The way we're thinking about this, the membership can be sold, so the initial funds can be recouped if you decide not to continue.
If you're interested or have any questions, please respond to this post or email me at FarmAndGarden@i4ie.com.
Replies
I will do that! :)
A 2005 article had this to say: Tucson farmer Shelby Brawley had profits in mind when she started a cow-share program.
Brawley and a group of Tucson residents who wanted raw milk set it up, each chipping in $50 bucks to buy one $1,000 cow, and taking home as much raw milk as they wanted.
She had read about cow-share programs in other states and thought it was legal in Arizona.
But it isn't.
"The state will tell you it is legal to sell raw in Arizona, provided you are a Grade A, state-certified dairy," she said.
"But then it is almost impossible, especially for a small farmer with a couple of cows or goats, to comply and jump through enough hoops to actually do it."
So it's not illegal, just not cost effective to get certified Grade A, and if you ARE large enough to do that, the Dairyman's Association won't help your farm.
I read that article; it doesn't say what happened, though.
I still can't find a statue that addresses this. I can't find anything that outlaws co-owning a cow, or any other livestock; nor can I find anything outlawing the milking of your own cow (or goat or camel, for that matter), or requiring personal cows (or goats, etc.) to be Grade-A certified. It only talks about commercial enterprises.
I did find a 2008 post from a person who was part of a cow-share, but it didn't sound like they were doing their own milking.
Perplexed...
To me, this shows the state government will come down on any cow-op, and you will have to prove you are not selling the milk, if that exempts you from the requirement to be Grade-A Certified.
My cynical side says if there isn't a law, they'll try to write one. But my optimist side says it's possible. A bit more research and time will tell!
A bit about cows:
To stay in milk, cows have to drop calves about once/year. They produce milk while pregnant, but there is a period when they don't, which is just before calving. They also give their first milk to the calf, so there's a month plus when there is no milk.
They give 4-8 gallons of milk/day, but that varies on breed, gestation period, age, and various other factors, including the website you get your information off of. :)
The amount each person would invest would be in accordance to the number of milkings that person commits to. There would be either 7 or 14 milkings/week, depending on whether we do a 2/day or 1/day milking, and the time of day would depend on the schedules of the initial participants. :)
Hi Shari,
I thought cow shares weren't legal in AZ?
Carrie
I don't know. I guess that's the first thing I should look into. I wonder why they wouldn't be. If they are, it's probably something to put on the radar to get changed. Thanks for the heads up. I'll let you know what I find out. :)
Well, I haven't found a real law yet, but things look pretty dismal. What I've found so far is the definition of a cow share, being a contractual relationship between farmer and consumer, whereby the farmer cares for and milks the cow for the consumer. I'm not a farmer, and I don't want to do the milking.
But the way the FDA is with search and seizures, and with the power of the milk industry, I don't have much hope. Dang. I just want a little raw milk, like the stuff I grew up on.
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