# Goat friendly states



## crazyleppardgirl (Nov 18, 2012)

Hi there
My husband and I are considering a move in the near future and was wondering if anyone out there had any information on states that are small farmer friendly for goat people. We would like to open a cheese dairy and right now in arizona, good luck unless you have a ton of money. I know Oklahoma you can sell milk on your farm but not outside it. I think Oregon is goat friendly, but does anyone know of other states?

Thanks!
Shawn


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Well, I live in NJ :laugh: You can't sell raw milk, and you can only sell cheese after it ages for a certain amount of time.


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## 8566 (Jul 18, 2012)

~~ Colorado ~~


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## Frosty1 (Jul 12, 2011)

Living in FL, I can sell raw milk and raw milk cheese if it is labeled "For Pet Consumption Only".


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Diary--a few individuals out here. Meat breeds--Rocksprings, TX is considered the Angora capital of the world, though due to changes in federal subsidaries, many have switched to meat goats. Lots and lots and lots of Boer and Spanish goat's here. Not aware of any dairies here but I can get to 3 different auction houses in 3 different directions, all of which are 2 hour drive or less away. Most of the folks who own diary goats around here use the milk for personal use.


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## adriHart (Nov 1, 2012)

Oregon is a beautiful place to live.g. it's where I'm at. you're only allowed to own 9 lactating animals at a time unless you are a grade a licensed dairy. you may only sell raw milk for animal use, or herd shares are ok. that is what I have learned so far here.


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

I'm in NH we can sell up to two gallons of raw milk a day, (not sure if you became a grade A dairy or anything, have never looked into it) I am pretty sure we can sell cheese too. (we haven't done that.) Hmm.. I'll have to look for some more info for you!


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## .:Linz:. (Aug 25, 2011)

In PA it is pretty easy, though costly, to become licensed to sell raw milk. There is another legal way to sell it through a state-wide private contract co-op group.


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## crazyleppardgirl (Nov 18, 2012)

Thank you everyone!!! Anyone out there from PA or WV?


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## kiddoe (Oct 8, 2012)

crazyleppardgirl said:


> Thank you everyone!!! Anyone out there from PA or WV?


I am from Pennsylvania, North Central so it looks on the map, but the atlas says East. I am a new goat owner, though, and can't answer your question. Nice to meet you, though!


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## kiddoe (Oct 8, 2012)

.:Linz:. said:


> In PA it is pretty easy, though costly, to become licensed to sell raw milk. There is another legal way to sell it through a state-wide private contract co-op group.


Could you private message me this information. I'd love to know who to get in touch with to learn more.


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## Brooks-of-Judah (Oct 1, 2012)

Tennessee passed the "cow shares" law about a year ago, which says that if you own a dairy animal -- or part of a dairy animal -- you can consume the product of said animal. So, a lot of local goat folk have sold "shares" in their herd, and people who own a share pick up a gallon every week, or whatever they agree on in their contract.

There are at least two Grade A goat dairies that I know of in middle Tennessee, and there are some goat people who sell milk to a cheese plant just over the line in north Alabama.


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## crazyleppardgirl (Nov 18, 2012)

OK..just one more state to ask about...anyone out there with dairy goats in Ohio? What is the laws etc for raw vs pastuerized? Thanks so much folks!


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## sgian (Jun 18, 2008)

I don't know a lot about rules in my state, I never had goat trouble with the law in Missouri.  From a quick internet search, it appears to me that most of the regulations on goats regard scrapies but I wouldn't recognize such a tag if I saw one. http://mda.mo.gov/animals/health/specieswithin.php As for dairy, in Missouri individuals can buy raw milk directly from the farm but as I understand it when a third party is involved it must be pasteurized. Here's the link to the Missouri site on raw milk and dairy. http://mda.mo.gov/animals/milk/rawmilk.php


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## Curious (Feb 6, 2013)

This is what was on the Real Milk website :
*Ohio*

"Raw milk sales for human consumption are illegal. The state has adopted Section 9 of the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance which permits only the sale of pasteurized milk to the final consumer.
There are no state laws against the sale of raw milk for pet consumption. It is the policy of the state Department of Agriculture to permit on-farm sales of raw milk for pet consumption provided that the farmer posts signs stating that they are selling raw milk for pet consumption only."

I live in Georgia so I don't know how recent this is, I know here we do herd shares and get pet food licenses.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

adriHart said:


> Oregon is a beautiful place to live.g. it's where I'm at. you're only allowed to own 9 lactating animals at a time unless you are a grade a licensed dairy. you may only sell raw milk for animal use, or herd shares are ok. that is what I have learned so far here.


 I'm going to add to this as it's only part correct.

You are allowed to own 9 female goats or 9 female sheep or 3 female cows. They are counted whether they are in milk at the time or not. Doelings, ewe lambs, calves, are not counted.
You may only have 2 of your cows in milk at the same time. There are no restrictions on the number of goats or sheep you may milk at once.

You may not advertise raw milk for sale. Your business must come from word of mouth.
You may sell milk off your farm only. Transporting it to a customer is a felony crime.
You may sell for human consumption it doesn't matter as long as the customer comes to you.

Herd shares are not legal in Oregon. They are not illegal, they fall into a loophole in the laws. That loophole is now being closed because people are using it to break the very lenient small hobby dairy laws.

Getting a grade A license is easy here. The start up costs are a bit much but the yeary testing as such is reasonable.


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