What is a Herd Share?

Owning a share in a herd is similar to owning a share in a company that pays dividends. You pay for your share weekly or bi-weekly and then pick up your portion of the herds milk. This is a method that many small farms and hobby farms use to create a consistent base of people to consume what they produce. You sign a membership agreement with us as the “Agister” of the herd but we maintain all control of the herd. You pay a small initial boarding fee ($10) and we split up what the herd produces into shares. Don’t worry, you won’t need to join us twice a day for milking chores. Contact us if you would like to preview the contract for membership in our herd.

Why is a herd share important to us a small dairy goat farm?

As we produce more and more milk from our herd we have a need to either use it or sell it in a timely fashion. Raw dairy is only fresh for so long. We drink it every day, we make cheese, butter, and yogurt. But we can only use so much of it. As our small dairy has increased we have sought out people to share our fantastic milk with, but it has been hard to find a consistent customer base. Our herd needs to be milked twice a day, every day. Rain or shine. So we have begun this program of a herd share to help create consistancy in our milk coming in and going out.

How much does a share cost?

One share is 1/2 gallon of raw goats milk and costs $5.00

There is a deposit of $3 per 1/2 gallon jar or you can bring your own to exchange.

How does milk pickup work?

You will select a block of days that work for you on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. You can come on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. (Sundays by pre-arrangement only). Pickup is between 8 am and 8 pm. This will be your consistent block of days to pickup milk.

During your first visit we will show your our milking room and the refrigerator. You will leave your empty jars in the designated area and then take your designated share from the refrigerator.

Payment can be cash in the cash box in the milking room (prefered) or by Venmo and PayPal. Instructions for these will be in the milking room. We ask that you write you name and what you purchased in our log on the counter. This will help us know that you picked up your share and any extras that you may have purchased. We will use this for understanding what extra products people seem to like.

Example:

You have signed up for three milk shares (1.5 gallons) on a by-weekly schedule and have chosen the Mon-Wed block of days. You can show up on any of these three days between 8 am and 8 pm, drop off your three empty half gallon jars, grab three full half gallon jars from the fridge, and leave $15 in the cash box on the counter. You will log your purchase in the book on the counter and be expected to return in two weeks on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday to repeat this.

Am I always guaranteed to get get my shares?

Unfortunately as a small goat milk dairy there are some fluctuations in our milk production. We try our best to manage our breeding schedule to create as much consistency as possible. But there will be times when our milk production decreases. This will mostly be during the winter time. When we breed our goats they require a one month break in milking and after they kid they need to nurse their babies for three months. We mitigate this loss of milking by offsetting our breeding/birthing times. Unfortunately there will be a time when your share might not be available. We will communicate this to our members and if we drop below what our members are consuming our newest or least senior members will be placed on hold until our production increases again.

What if I can’t pick up my share?

This is the part of the herd’s milk that has been put aside specifically for you. Our goats give us milk regardless of the circumstance and it needs to be picked up and consumed. We ask that you pay for shares that you can’t pick up. We will be reasonable, but if you are unable to pick up your share regularly we ask that you not participate in this herd share. You are welcome to have someone else pick up your share if you are unable to also.