Milking Parlor Up and Running
Monday, November 23, 2009 at 10:18AM Well, it took a month longer than we expected, but we opened our new milking parlor last Friday. We have six Jersey girls to milk, and expect to add another six by the beginning of the year. That will meet our target milking herd size of twelve cows.
As we announced recently, our plan is to make farmstead raw milk cheeses. You can read all about that here. We're contemplating a small offering of raw-milk to consumers as well, but still haven't decided. The ;)
whey from the cheese will be fed back to our woodlot pigs, closing the loop on a grass-graze-milk-cheese-feed loop that creates no waste and moves our pig's feed one step closer to being completely organic and definitely local.
The prior owner of our farm used to run about 75 milk cows, before he stopped milking in 1997. When we took over, everything had been ripped out of the parlor so we had to start fresh, minus the pit that was already there. The video below shows the work we did over the past few months to get ready to start milking. The cheese plant is part of the same building, and we'll post pictures of that once we start making cheese the first week of December.
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Reader Comments (15)
Hi Tim and Liz
Congratulations on getting your parlor ready. Good luck with your cheesemaking efforts and I look forward to reading of your progress
Hugh
Tim, I know there was GREAT SATISFACTION once you cranked up the system. You can really see the work that went into transforming and getting everything back up to working order. Ya'll should be proud! It looks great!
Will
Hey Tim - if you need anyone to perform some quality control tests on that cheese, I think you have my email. ;-) It was great to see you guys again this weekend. We're already looking forward to the next time we're able to make it to Elberton. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Cool video. A lot of work since we were there last farm tour day. Congratulations!
Wow! What great progress you've made since we saw it 5 weeks ago! Congratulations on your current and future success!
Cathy
Wow, it looks great! Congrats on getting it up and running. Can't wait to try the cheese.
Wow! No wonder you have not posted recently. If I had only 1/10 of your energy, I would be whizzing around this place instead of sloggly through the daily chores. Will be glad to add our name to that "quality control" panel! (Very Big Grin)
Patricia
So.very.jealous!! Looks amazing and I can't wait to hear about the cheese making endeavor. Awesome job guys!
Amazing!
Please, I hope I'm not being too forward, but I have to ask... How? I can not fathom the cost of doing half the things you are both doing. I don't ask that you give me your personal banking information, but I find that one of the big 'hush hush' issues of farming is finances. I'm moving into farming myself and I've been told (by farmers) not to trust what other farmers tell me about whether or not they are even breaking even!
A friend of mine, who is a farmer, told me that she worked on farms for years only to find out, once she started her own farm, that all of those farms were operating at a deficit! Why don't we talk about this stuff? If it's not profitable, it's not sustainable. Period.
With that, I come back to your farm. Would you be so generous as to let us know if you had to save up for a long time before beginning? Were you able to make such a profit, so early on as to be able to begin the new ventures you do on your farm?
As always, I love your blog. Your milk shed looks beautiful.
With deepest respect,
Tara
Tara,
I believe that it is a mistake to compare your situation to ours, or our situation to another farmer. We're all unique in our resources and skills.
Regarding farmers being hush/hush about finances and the fact that many of them don't break even, I know that's true, but it doesn't affect what we're doing or perhaps what you'll be doing. We chose this life for lifestyle and to spend our days the way we want to, but regarding the farming for other people, we approach that like anyone would seriously approach a business. Every business owner has to know their resources, market and talents, and has to be comfortable with risk. We wouldn't invest in the dairy if we didn't think we could get a return that would justify the investment.
Congratulations! You guys never cease to amaze me. The video was great!
Tare, those are some GREAT words of wisdom from Tim. The part about "approach....like a serious business. I started in cattle 4 years ago and am now expanding, like Tim if I didn't think the return would justify the investment I wouldn't have done it. We have been fortunate as it appears Tim has to grow and prosper every year so far. If you have a good game plan, are willing to put forth the effort and hard work you will succeed and be profitable. Like any business there are ups and downs. IMHO its about keeping a positive mental attitude no matter what diveristy arises and having a good game plan from the start to follow.
Hi Tim and Will,
Thank you for taking the time to share that with me. I really do appreciate it.
It wasn't my intention to compare my situation with anyone else's. I know enough about myself to understand the uniqueness I bring to any situation given my own personal experiences and talents. I totally get that. I only asked questions because that's what I do; ask questions - a lot :) The more diverse the answers, the more I learn.
I've spent time chatting with many a farmer and I find all pieces of their story fascinating. I don't ask questions in hopes of finding parallels, only to marvel at the ingenuity of each person's path.
Anyhoo, nice milk shed. :)
I was actually wondering that same thing too - I would kill for more information on successful farmers' financial stories as a model of what to follow, some things that work, etc. I realize that a lot of people would be uncomfortable sharing that kind of info, but for someone just starting to lay out her farming game plan, that kind of information is invaluable.
Your blog is very encouraging and inspirational by the way! I hope to do a whole lot of what you guys are doing, especially the dairy side of things, someday... hopefully someday soon!
Thank you again for the inspiration - God bless..........