Starting a Raw Milk Herdshare | Michelle & Adam Barringer
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- For dairy cow owners who find themselves overwhelmed with an abundance of milk or an abundance of friends and neighbors asking for milk, a herdshare could be a great option for you! Additionally, if you live in a state where it is illegal to sell raw milk, starting a herdshare is a wonderful way to provide milk to your community without legal issues. Whether you are looking to join a herdshare in your area or start one from your own homestead, this episode is a great starting place to get your questions answered. Michelle and Adam have been running their herdshare for a couple of years now, and they are generously sharing their insight into this process from start to finish!
In this episode, we cover:
- How the Barringers got started with dairy cows and eventually started their herdshare
- Various ways the children get involved in the family herdshare endeavor
- Walking through the setup and routine of a small home dairy
- The many factors to consider when deciding how to feed your dairy cow
- What are the health benefits of drinking raw milk?
- Navigating the legalities of raw milk sales and herdshares in your state
- An overview of the supplies and equipment you need to start a herdshare
- How to start marketing your herdshare to find members
Thank you to our sponsor!
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ABOUT MICHELLE & ADAM
Adam & Michelle Barringer have been farming in some capacity for their entire marriage of 16 years. Through trying out just about every farm-related enterprise there is, they have landed on what they believe to be the most sought-after and what provides the most positive impact to the community, raw milk, through a herdshare program. With their current herd of 8 milk cows, they provide milk for nearly eighty families in their area. To hear the stories of healing in their members just by switching to raw “real” milk, it gives their whole family the motivation to keep stewarding the land and the animals well. Adam & Michelle have 4 children who literally help run the farm. They couldn’t do what they do without them and hope to pass along this enterprise to them fully one day.
Adam is also employed full-time as the livestock program manager at Juneberry Ridge in Norwood, NC. He enjoys spending any “free time” he gets with his children outdoors - camping, fishing, and rambling through the woods. Michelle homeschools her children and in her free time enjoys cooking, decorating, health & nutrition research, reading, traveling, and working on her own podcast.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
RealMilk.com: www.realmilk.com/
Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund: www.farmtoconsumer.org/
Visit Michelle & Adam’s website for more information about their farm and herdshare: sheltermountainfarm.com/
Check out Michelle’s podcast, Biscuits and Gravy, and follow along on Instagram: www.biscuitsandgravypodcast.com / biscuitsandgravypodcast
CONNECT
Michelle & Adam Barringer
Website: www.sheltermountainfarm.com
Instagram: / sheltermountainfarm
Facebook: / sheltermountainfarm
CZcams: / shetermountainfarm
Homesteaders of America
Website: homesteadersofamerica.com
Instagram: / homesteadersofamerica
Facebook: / homesteadersofamerica
CZcams: / homesteadersofamerica
Pinterest: / homesteadersusa
GET MORE FROM THIS EPISODE
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Just a plug for raw milk...my sister and l are 86 and 87 y-o....no bone problems and pretty sound health...growing up in a coastal rural Calif. town, our diet of course was much better than today's....so anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to raw milk....oh yes, and it tastes so good!! This couple are providing an awesome product for their community....not only food, but probably also long term health...and that is HUGE!!
Thank you for another wonderful podcast Amy! You have put out some great ones on cow ownership, but I am wondering what people do about calf management when they are milking twice a day for a herd share. Just wanting to see how others are doing that to possibly get ideas/options, since I'm sure there are a couple different options. Thanks again!
Much enjoyed! Thank-you all!
I wish different situations with customers were addressed. 😊
Thank you for this video. Great story and information. We are thinking of jumping in to a milk share or creamery. in Texas it is legal to sell, you need to be monitored by the state for bacterial load.
I’m so thankful we don’t have to do herdshares here, we can legally sell our raw goat & Jersey milk off the farm with little restrictions.
Where do you live? What state?
@@Dawna_Potter I’m in Arkansas
My mini Jersey doesn’t like alfalfa nor beets. During milking I’ve been giving her sweet mix. Not sure if this is okay for her.
I was disappointed in that they did not address how the herd share worked as their milk shares paid or how much of a share of a cow they owned, or that sort of thing.
I would like to know how their customers reimburse them for the milk that they receive and what is the cost of their share of the herd and how that managed
I called the closest herd share to me and asked them how it worked. 🤷 closest one is an hour away 😢 but one share (1 time cost $50) + $30 / month for care and board of the cow per share entitles me to 1 gallon of milk per week.
So after the initial upfront $50 is 7.50/gallon.
If i decided to stop, i would sell my share back to them and get my $50 back
at was what i listened for...thanks jen for listing ur experience
@@jenbrez70 this is exactly the way it worked for me. Mine started with $75 heard buy in and $25 monthly care fees. As costs went up the monthly fee went up to $30.
Unfortunately, due to family matters, the herd share I was in closed. They did buy my $75 share back before finding new homes for the cows.
They are just sweet. But what is a herdshare? Is it like a csa? Thx for continued learning!!
Have you found your answer yet?
A herd share involves people buying in and therefore "sharing" the herd with the farmer. You would pay a specific amount to purchase a share of the milk herd and then pay a certain amount to the farmer each month for them to care for and milk the animals as well as making sure that the milk is handled properly and available for you to pick it up.
I really enjoy how it works out.
If you decide that you don't want to be involved anymore they buy your share of the herd back in order to sell it back to someone else.
@@diannamc367 thank you! I kind of went down that rabbit hole found 1 place that does beef and they are 7hrs from me. No dairy yet but I keep searching 😃
@@ladyryan902 good luck😊
In Canada 🇨🇦 it’s illegal to sell raw milk 😢