Jumping the Moon Dairy - the next chapter

[Wehner Homestead]

Mini Moon!!!

 

[CntryBoy777]

What about working with local 4H and finding some mature young'uns to assist ya with the operation and chores?....or even hire a couple of part-timers....

 

[Bruce]

The nice thing about ice cream is that its shelf life is about a year. I can make it when the milk is flowing and sell it when it isn't. There are many people that can't have cow milk ice cream so my limited market research tells me that this would be a good seller. I hope that I am right.

I'd be happy to test it for you Of course it is a bit of a drive for me.

 

[babsbag]

@CntryBoy777 I hope to hire someone someday but it seems that there is a steep learning curve to the dairy side and I have to make sure that the right person is responsible enough to pay attention to details and to let me know if something is out of the ordinary. You can't just let things slide and hope that no one will notice. I am more scientist than dairy owner (I hate science) and it seems like there is always some little thing that needs fixing. I would love to find someone to do the daily chores like feeding and then things like trimming hooves and vaccinations, and lets not even think about next year and kidding.

Unfortunately I have no leads on any young person that actually wants to work; farm chores are not easy.

 

[Bruce]

Heck with that, hire someone to clean the house, garden, pool and pond! Then you don't have to feel pressure to "do it all".

 

[Mike CHS]

I wish I knew how they did the business model but the farm that we bought a ewe and our ram has a slew of interns doing all of the grunt work in their gardens and sheep handling. There are some paid employees but most are college students. I have no idea how you could find out how to start that.

 

[babsbag]

I would love to know how to hire interns and have them covered by worker's comp. And then where to find them and what are they getting in return for their hard work.

 

[TAH]

So sorry for your loss of moonpie... But mini moonpie is just so sticking cute!

Wish I was able to help you with the dairy... Hope you can eventually find the right person to come along and help.

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

What milking machine set up are you using? I ask because I am considering buying one. I will only be milking about a dozen.
Can you do ice cream and frozen yogurt? I used to make frozen yogurt for those less lactose tolerant family members. Being able to store for up to a year certainly gives you flexibility.

 

[babsbag]

I have a Delaval pipeline system with a clean in place wash system and a bulk tank. I bring 8 into the parlor and milk 4 and prep 4. Before I had that and was milking for home use I was using a System One from Caprine Supply. Good machine.

I was wondering about frozen yogurt, I will have to do research on that as I have never made it,even for myself.

I was thinking today about ice cream again because I have milk that is a week from going out of date. We didn't do the farmer's market today due to the smoke and that hurts. But if I was doing ice cream I could take that milk and reuse it...I think. There might be some strange rules about having to pump the milk into the ice cream freezer but then again there might not be. Right now I am freezing old milk for next year's kids but I would rather find a more practical use for it. I am going to try making caramels too.

There is a local lavender farm that is interested in me making cheese and ice cream for them to sell at their farm. Of course that is very seasonal but still a good outlet. This marketing stuff is hard.