I began this venture simply as a way to provide good clean, easily digestable milk for my family. The more I read, the more I wanted to do it…I believe 100 % in the health benefits of home grown foods. I started with 1 doe in milk , giving us approximately 1 gallon each day, and I had 1 kid ready to be bred this fall….I intended to stagger breeding the two of them to keep us in milk year round. Then I decided maybe there was something to this milk (that is rather difficult to come by unless you actually own a goat..which many people do not)….the health benefits in comparison to other milks available are amazing…and I can control what goes into my does to keep their milk free of antibiotics and chemicles….I am certian there are other people who want this milk as well …right?? So I look into becoming a legal dairy…LOTS of hoops to jump through on a regular basis…not that I mind jumping through them…what scares me though, is the fact that they can just change the hoops at will….so essentially..I can meet all their demands, incuring a fair amount of debt in the process ….new building , drains in floors, milk tanks, washers, coolers, seperate septic, processing room etc…etc..etc… And when I almost have this paid off, and I am to the point where I may actually bring in a proffit, then they can change the hoops…now maybe septic needs to be run different, or maybe there are new codes to be met for the processing room to pass, or maybe my milk equipment needs to be rerouted a different way…this is all unsettling to me…not to mention the fact that the inspector all but told me flat out that every month when they come to do inspection..they will try to shut me down because they do not agree with the sale of raw milk…though it is legal, and not really their choice to make….This all seems a bit crazy to me, and so I choose not to be a slave to this system…….If I can produce clean safe milk, people (in this free country) should be able to choose to buy it if they want to, but it simply does not work that way…There are countless amounts of consumeable products on store shelves that are filled with chemicles that are causing all sorts of illnesses…yet these are easily available to anyone who wants them…so apparently if a big company with lots of money wants to sell us chemicles and call it food, this is acceptable, but if a small farm producing real food in a clean, healthy, chemicle free environment, trys to provide their product it is much more difficult…I have come to the conclusion that I will not be building commercial dairy anytime soon.
This brings me to meat goats….meat goats are another way to make money from your herd…you build up a herd of goats that you keep, and you use their babies as either replacements for the older does or you sell them as cabrito or chevon (different names for goat meat).This sounds like a possible plan, but we are going to start ot slow and small (we added 5 does and a buck to our herd this summer), because no matter how I do the math.. I am not certian this is actually proffitable..it may barely cover the cost of keeping the herd…lots of work for little pay…I am not confident this is the best plan I have ever come up with …
Finally on to my soap…I believe I can sell the soaps, lotions, body scrubs, etc…to a wider range of people, and I would find it much more enjoyable, than selling goats for meat…This would enable me to have my small quaint dairy, and use my goats for their milk (with out the need for NYS to be involved),but only need a few of them as opposed to hundreds of them….We could use the milk for ourselves, and the extra would go into my products…My hope is to make enough to supplement our income, I have no delusions of becoming rich from this, but I do believe there is a market for what I have, and I just need to get my product out there in the right places…when I do that it will sell….it is a good quality product….with out all the chemical preservatives that are making us all so sick…I know that when people see it, smell it, touch it, they will want to at least try it….then after they try it, they will love the way it makes their skin feel, and the nice soft scents it will leave. My soaps, lotions, and scrubs can all be used with out worry of harsh chemicals and additives….
So what exactly am I doing with my goats???? Still not totally sure…everything a little, until one day I decide what works the best, and what doesn’t really work at all….this may take awhile…and for someone like myself…who always wants to know what the plan is…this is the hardest part.. for the time being I am focusing on my soap products, and I will see where it will take me…
Why am I doing this in the first place you may wonder? As do I some days…Well..the reason is simply that I love the animals, and I love the lifestyle of life on a farm…..but if you cannot make money doing it, than it is simply to costly to maintain… I believe that if you are passionate about something you need to pursue it…and that is exactly what I am trying to do …It remains to be seen where it will take me…
Wish me luck, and thanks for reading!!
Posted by 19lissa86 on August 24, 2011 at 11:28
You told me today that this post was a ramble and a rant… but it doesn’t count as ‘rant’ when your frustration is legit! Well, not by my book anyway— and if you ask me, my book is of solid theory:)… It’s just plain dumb for inspectors to want to shut anyone down for producing foods free of chemicals and hormones simply on the grounds that you’re selling it raw. I guess that there’s always a system behind these things though… so unfortunately when you’re onto something it can’t ever be easy. As far as your soaps and lotions, I think that they’re great and I know that if you keep at it and put your all into it, you’ll do well and your customers will be happy with what they buy. You put your care and tremendous effort into everything you do… it won’t be long before people start to buy your products and realize that themselves, because that’s what happens when you sell a product that is of genuinely good quality.
Love you sis, good luck!