Re: OT.Dairy equipment

Posted by Hal/WA on August 12, 2006 at 13:25:36 from (66.45.175.118):

In Reply to: OT.Dairy equipment posted by I'm probably nuts but on August 11, 2006 at 19:57:08:

About 30 years ago, my buddy's parents built up a small dairy on 20 acres. I think they milked up to about 20 Brown Swiss cows. They had to buy almost all their hay and feed and nearly worked themselves to death.

I don't think they ever made much money with the operation, which they ran for about 10 years. They were very proud of their "Dairy of Merit" award sign which was displayed by their driveway.

Their operation was similar to what you described, although I think they had a pipeline. I think their bulk tank held about 300 gallons. A milk tanker came every couple of days.

My friend's parents were completely tied down, all the time. Their operation was too small to have hired help (which is hard to find and expensive) and yet, like any dairy, somebody had to milk twice a day and mess with stuff a bunch of the day.

I know of a couple of small dairies in my area that have gone out of business in the last 20 years. The milk price to the farmers has been to low to make it on a small scale, and the ever-increasing environmental and sanitation restrictions have made it too expensive to continue doing business and update to the new requirements. I suspect that most of the equipment they were using is still in the milk houses.

Most of the dairies that remain are huge--milking a couple hundred cows all the time. They are also set up so the cows never go on pasture, in fact seldom go outside the containment areas. The concrete floors use dried manure for bedding and most manure is moved with water to a manure lagoon. They have become milk factories....

If you really want to work hard, I suggest you get into small scale dairying. You can probably find the equipment if you check your area for closed dairies, and I would suspect that it could be purchased for a whole lot less than it would cost if you bought it new.

But if you want to prosper, and do anything besides dairying, I would suggest doing just about anything else. Good luck!

Replies:

• Re: OT.Dairy equipment probably nuts 20:50:51 08/12/06 (0)

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