# Selling Milk?



## riverstonegoats (Apr 24, 2011)

Just wondering, how many of you guys sell your milk? What did you have to do to become licensed to sell it? I know laws on this can vary by state, but just wondering. 

What about selling cheese/soap?

I know a Grade A dairy has a lot of requirements, but do you have to be Grade A to sell milk raw?

Thanks!


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## Sans Gene Goats (Jul 2, 2010)

riverstonegoats said:


> Just wondering, how many of you guys sell your milk? What did you have to do to become licensed to sell it? I know laws on this can vary by state, but just wondering.
> 
> What about selling cheese/soap?
> 
> ...


I do not sell, but am considering getting licensed in my state to sell, so have been doing quite a bit of research of late. What I have learned is that it varies HUGELY from state to state what it takes to be licensed. And selling *raw* milk is another whole beesnest by itself. Some states it is absolutely illegal, others allow it if you are a licensed Grade A dairy, others allow very small producers to sell on the farm or via cow or goat shares. For cheese the same thing - definitely regulated, and different states have different regulations.

Some states require a license to sell milk for pet food. Selling for soap and non-consumables may not require any kind of license, but (broken record here) but you'd need to check with your state's Dept. of Ag. to be sure.

The other complicating issue is that most information out there pertains to cow dairies, not goats. In our state, regulations are not as strict for goats because goats are cleaner than cows. (no offense to the bovines intended!).

I've also found there is a fair bit of misinformation that gets circulated around - I suspect because states can differ so much. I contacted the Dept of Ag in our state (WSDA) and got in touch with the local inspector. I am so glad I did - he cleared up a lot of questions for me and was quite helpful.

Great post! Looking forward to hearing from those who are selling their milk and their experiences with that :thumb:


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

Around here there are a few people who sell cow and goat milk. They do not avertise and it is word of mouth. No selling in stores. Most people who buy this milk are neighbors and I have not heard anything bad happening. But, we are a small farm/ranch town. People sell alot of things. At one point our little store was selling farm fresh eggs which is a BIG no no..she got caught and the young girl with the chickens now just sells to neighbors. Everyone pretty much knows who has what for sell.

As far as price goes...the lady who sells raw cows milk charges $4 a gallon. The lady who sells raw goats milk I think charges $2 a quart. 

If you are going to sell out in the open per se..I would definitely gat ahold of your state's Dept of Ag and ask questions.


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## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

Here's a link to help you get started and questions you might have http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

We were selling our milk. We are selling a few does now and have bottle kids taking the milk from the doe's we are keeping so won't be selling milk anymore. 

When we were selling we advertised on our local craigslist and on our farm website. Word of mouth goes a long way too you tell people you have goats their eyes light up and they wanna know if you sell goat milk. Now to sell milk here you just have to let people know on your add that it is RAW milk and they must either come to your farm or you deliver to them, but you can't take your milk to somewhere to sell. Like a farmers market or local store etc... is a no no. You have to sell it off your farm. That's the way it is here in missouri. I know other states require you to sell it as pet milk etc... but here we just have to inform buyers that it is in it's RAW state. 

We make sure to keep things clean, sanitized, and take precautions to chill that milk as quickly as possible so it tastes really good and stays fresh for a good 8-10 days. We sold our milk for $6.00 - $7.50 a gallon with a first time jar fee of $2.50. We buy special 1/2 gallon jars so we have to charge the first time jar fee. 

I figured if there was enough interest in the milk I could go bigger and maybe even look into the Grade A dairy thing, but there just wasn't enough people in my little town that would buy it. They want cheap milk and they don't care if that comes from cows or goats. I can't underprice the store so it just doesn't seem to work out for me. 

I'm going to start making goat milk soap and sell at swap meets, farmers markets etc... and will probably even advertise on Craigslist and for sure on my website.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Check out the realmilk website, they list laws for each state.

I sell raw goat milk - in MN the law states the buyer must come to our farm, we cannot sell off-site. The buyer must also bring their own container. The law also states you cannot sell to a person on a regular basis.. So it's kind of touch and go on that last part. We do not have to be licensed if we meet those requirements though.
I sell raw milk for $5 a gallon. Meanwhile if you were to buy a gallon of storebought (pasteurized) goat milk, you would have to pay $16 - for a much lower quality, IMO.

I sell cheaper simply because we almost always have too much milk and only one buyer as of right now. I also makes cheeses, icecream, yogurt, kefir, and soap. My hard cheese is still aging so I haven't thought much of selling that (in our state you cannot sell cheese from raw milk that hasn't aged at least 60 days). I do sell soap but not locally - there is almost no demand for local and artisan products. Our farmer's market is only active a couple weekends in the fall and then it's over.


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## rosti (Feb 1, 2011)

It is different in different states. Here is WA rules. http://agr.wa.gov/foodanimal/dairy/docs ... 042111.pdf


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## ETgoatygirl (Mar 23, 2012)

We can't legally sell raw milk, or cheese for that matter in MT. You can't, even if you are a Grade A Dairy. I can't believe it!!! This makes me soo mad.. It also makes me think of moving to a state where this is possible. Crazy, I know Will someone please tell MT to get it's act together?!!!


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## Engebretsen (May 16, 2012)

Just a question, but I'm reading The Raw Milk Revolution by David Gumpert right now. Has anyone read it or other books about the history of milk and paesteurization? It's interesting. Here in Colorado, some people choose to sell their milk using herdshare programs, but "selling" raw milk is illegal.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Here in NH we are only able to sell 2 gallons of milk a day... I haven't looked into it to much... right now we aren't looking to sell any.. We give some to friends if we need to get rid of some but that's about it...


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I have not sold milk yet but most people around me that do just put it as pet milk to get around the laws. As for soap there are no laws that I know of for it, least I haven't found any. There are a few laws in Canada that regulates labeling the ingredients by concentration in the product and a few other things. I mostly follow those rules even though I don't sell in Canada. I sell it and ship it to different states to individuals. As a matter of fact I may be selling it in a store in North Carolina soon.

My aunt owns a large(over 2000 adult goats at any given time) grade B dairy in North Carolina that is only licensed to sell cheese. They do random checks as well as scheduled checks a few times a year on her facility. Inspect the cheese room, milking parlor and take samples from the bulk tank for cell counts and bacteria levels as well as some other things. The animals are never really inspected. Its not really all that restricted since the milk is pasteurized there is not as much rules as there would be for a raw dairy. I can't tell you the exact details because I don't work on her farm anymore and don't really talk about all the regulations with her.

However please remember this is one farm and one state. All states are different and yes there are different categories of licensing you don't have to be grade A. Here's a list of the grades.



Grade A-sells fluid milk
Grade B-sells milk for further processing, like cheese or candy
Grade C-I'm not entirely clear on the qualifications on this one. The rules are a bit murky
Grade D-If I'm right for animals consumption only.

The best thing to do to get more info is contact USDA or talk to farmers in your state.


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