Homestead mailing list

[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

Lynn, this is on the subject discussed earlier.  'still probably too much 
trouble, but, thisd guy is doing it.  from present copy of the Dairy Goat 
Journal.......................


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 


"Goat Shares" Help Owners
Sell Raw Milk Legally 

By Tim King  


It's not unusual for goat milk customers of Rachel Hecker's Blue Moon Dairy, 
Wasilla, Alaska, to pick up their milk after midnight. After all it's still 
light and that's the time Hecker is out milking her goats during the summer. 
It's also not unusual for her customers to inquire about the goats they 
partially "own" on her farm; they have a vested interest. It's illegal to 
purchase raw milk to drink in Alaska, but according to state laws, a person 
owning an animal may drink raw milk from that animal. Hecker is able to 
provide her customers with the delicious and beneficial goat milk they 
desire, by selling them partial shares to the goats in her herd. 
Blue Moon Dairy near Wasilla, Alaska has many top quality dairy goats on the 
list available to 'shareholders' who can pay to own part of a goat and then 
pick up milk on an as needed basis. This is Piddlin Acres Moonshine, ADGA 
Grand Champion and Best Udder Nigerian Dwarf at the Alaska State Fair, 
August, 2007. 
 

At Blue Moon Dairy, and under the laws of the state of Alaska, a goat share 
is a partial ownership in the farm's goat herd. That partial ownership allows 
non-farmers to drink raw milk from the herd. Dairy goat farmers that 
participate in goat share projects are aware that they do so at the mercy of 
state and federal laws that are often hostile or confusing. Even in states 
where goat shares are specifically allowed by law, state inspectors are known 
to harass farmers. An Indiana dairy that provides perfectly legal goat shares 
to perfectly happy shareholders would only share information about their 
"goat shares" program anonymously because state inspectors were already 
harassing and threatening the owner of the dairy. 

"Keeping on good terms with my state and federal inspectors is important," 
Rachel Hecker said. "I don't have either the time or the money to challenge 
them." 

That said, both Hecker and the Indiana dairy have sold all the goat shares 
their herd size allows. Customers desperately want to buy raw goat milk for 
health benefits, laws or no laws, and selling goat shares seems to be the 
best way to compromise an otherwise impossible situation. 

"In Alaska you can drink milk from a goat you own," Hecker said. "By owning a 
share in a goat, you have a fresh supply of your own goat milk to drink." 

At Blue Moon Dairy a customer who is interested in obtaining raw goat milk 
can purchase a goat share for a one-time cost of $65. When they do that they 
sign a contract with the dairy. 

"I don't put my contract on my website," Hecker said. "I want people to come 
out and see the farm and the goats before they sign the contract." 
Though their herd is now made up of mainly Toggenburgs and Nigerian Dwarf 
dairy goats, Rachel Hecker and children Kelsey and David, got their start in 
the dairy goat business with a much-loved Alpine doe. 
 

Many goat share contracts also specify that the buyer will also pay a monthly 
husbandry, or maintenance, fee for the care of their share. At Blue Moon 
Dairy Hecker has taken a different approach. 

"I found that I was spending a lot of time keeping records and trying to 
collect monthly fees," she said. "I don't want to be a collection agent. 
That's no fun." 

Hecker solved that problem by charging the husbandry fee when people come to 
retrieve their milk. The husbandry fee to retrieve a gallon of milk from 
their own goat share at Blue Moon Dairy is currently $6 per gallon. 

If the idea of husbandry fees and retrieving milk is hard to understand keep 
in mind that Alaskan law does not allow Hecker to sell raw goat milk. She can 
drink raw milk from her goats. Her shareholders can drink the milk from the 
goat that they own, but that Blue Moon Dairy boards and milks for them. 

Hecker said she put a lot of thought into what a fair husbandry charge should 
be. The $6 charge is essentially what her experience has taught her the 
market in her area will bear. "There is a fine line between what people will 
pay and what will send them back to the grocery store to get their milk," she 
said. 

The Blue Moon contract promises to buy back a share if a shareholder chooses 
to sell it back. Since Hecker started the goat share project in 2003, only 
one share holder has chosen to sell their share back to the farm. 

The contract also guarantees a gallon of milk per week. At the same time 
Hecker attempts to educate shareholders about the seasonality of lactation. 
She is tailoring her breeding program to enhance year-round production by 
crossing her Toggenburgs with Nigerians. Nevertheless, summertime is peak 
milk production time in the Land of the Midnight Sun. When shareholders 
arrive during midnight milking they are able to retrieve more than a gallon 
of milk. If there is surplus they often make goat milk ice cream. Alaskans do 
love their ice cream, Hecker said. 

"Unofficial research shows that Alaskans eat more ice cream per capita than 
any other people in the country," Hecker said. 

Summer doesn't last forever, however, and surplus milk is a rarity in the 
winter. Hecker has learned that when there is little or no sunshine, as in an 
Alaskan winter, retrievals fall off and people who don't retrieve tend not to 
pay monthly husbandry fees. It was largely for that reason that Blue Moon 
Dairy turned to charging when the milk is retrieved, rather than requiring 
monthly shares payments. 

The Indiana goat dairy mentioned anonymously however, does charge a $40 
monthly maintenance fee. That fee is due whether a shareholder retrieves 
their weekly gallon or not. If the shareholder picks up a gallon each week 
that works out to around $8.75 per gallon. The farm charges an initial fee of 
$35 to purchase a share. 
BryaroseFarms D's Mackenzie shows the beautiful rear udder and productive 
attributes that have made her and many of her offspring valued members of the 
Blue Moon Dairy goat herd in Alaska. 
 

The Indiana dairy is very specific about what a share consists of. The 
following is taken directly from their contract: 

"It is agreed and understood by Buyer that Buyer's interest in the Herd is a 
limited interest shared with others of co-ownership in the Herd and that the 
interest purchased by Buyer does not convey or vest in Buyer sole ownership 
of the Herd or of any particular Goat in the Herd. It is further agreed and 
understood that the specific Goats in the Herd may change over time as Goats 
die or as Seller adds to or deletes from the Herd in his sole and absolute 
discretion; however, Seller shall not be obligated to add to the Herd to 
replace a Goat that dies, but may do so at Seller's discretion." 

The Indiana dairy also tells shareholders that they are entitled to one 
gallon per week. The contract gives the farmer a loophole if there is not 
that much milk available. 

According to their goat share contract: The Buyer shall be entitled to 
receive on a weekly basis a proportional share of the milk produced by the 
Herd so long as Buyer is not delinquent in Buyer's payment of monthly fees. 
The amount of milk to be received by Buyer shall be determined by multiplying 
Buyer's interest in the herd by the amount of milk produced." 

Though there are legal headaches involved, both the Alaskan and Indiana goat 
share sellers work to educate their shareholders, and the general public, 
about dairying and the healthful benefits of goat milk. They both encourage 
their shareholders to interact and learn about their goats. And both have 
found their services in much demand, with all shares available, sold out. 

To learn more about goat shares and Rachel Hecker's Blue Moon Dairy goats in 
Alaska, visit her web site at http://bluemoondairy.tripod.com. 
 
http://www.dairygoatjournal.com/issues/86/86-2/Tim_King.html