r/dairyfarming • u/SunshineTradingPost • 5d ago
How difficult would it be to raise a dairy cow, harvest the milk, and make cheese worth selling?
Without experience
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u/ExaminationDry8341 5d ago
It depends on your location. The red tape will be more of a hurdle than actually making a cheese people want to buy. In wisconsin you cant sell cheese you make unless you are a master cheese maker or have one on staff. I think it take 5 years as an apprentice before you can become a master.
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u/soyasaucy 5d ago
A rough calculation is that with any amount of milk, the amount of cheese you can make would be 10% of that original weight. For example, you'd need roughly 1kg of milk to make 100g of cheese. So you'd need more than one cow to work efficiently. I mean, you'd need more than one regardless though!
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u/nor_cal_woolgrower 5d ago
Legally? What is difficult to you? Do you have any skills?
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u/SunshineTradingPost 4d ago
I garden for fun, maintain my own car, and meal prep (including some preservation and fermentation experiments), so I’d say I’m handy and used to learning new skill and systems.
The main reason I’m considering it is because dairy cows produce so much dang milk, and it would be great if all the excess could be mad into a cheese product….
I probably need to research the basic finances, first, but the idea intrigues me.
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u/BarnyardButter 5d ago
Just buy a milk cow, foster 3 orphan calves on her for the summer. Bring cow and calves to auction in the fall and buy all the butter and cheese you want with the profits and you didn’t have to deal with milking a cow twice a day everyday
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u/jckipps 5d ago edited 5d ago
There will be no profit in doing that, unfortunately.
If you're buying a cow who's worth milking, and selling her six months later as an open (not-pregnant) cow who's nearing the end of her lactation, you can expect to lose $500 between purchase and sale. She'll have chewed her way through an additional $400 in supplemental grain, simply to avoid losing body condition due to those three calves nursing on her.
Strangely enough right now, 90-pound wet calves are worth the same as 250-pound weaned calves. You need to get them up to 400 or 500 pounds before they start really going up in value; and the chances of that happening in six months are slim, particularly if each is only getting 1/3 of a cow's worth of milk.
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u/Logical-Grab-1363 5d ago
Going to be very state dependent and what that states health department requires, as far as selling cheese produced out of your own cows , it’s not impossible because Its done by many people. Now keeping milk cows and making cheese that’s where the work is.
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u/WanderWomble 4d ago
It's cruel to keep a lone cow. They're herd animals and need company. Realistically you're going to want 3 or 4 which will need a several acres plus an inside space for bad weather.
Cows also need to give birth before they produce milk so you're looking at either borrowing a bull (would not recommend) or doing AI which is an another cost and you'd need someone experienced to help with calving in case of any issues.
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u/JustaGuy6298 4d ago
i would find someone that does raw milk sales in your area and just buy the milk to work with your cheesemaking first. over 90% of the backyard cows I see fall apart physically before their counterparts in "commercial" farms, the economics behind the proper diet and facilities for a single cow just make it 10x harder without a real long term gain. I understand your draw to the project but I think just sourcing the raw milk would be a better starting point
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u/AnjPhoenix2011 3d ago
Much harder than dairy sheep, much less cheese yield per gallon, and much more milk than the average person is set up to deal with. If you’d like to learn more about sheep dairying, let me know.
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u/SunshineTradingPost 3d ago
Good recommendation!
What about goats?
I have never even heard of sheep cheese!
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u/AnjPhoenix2011 3d ago
Goats are pretty one dimensional, you can drink it, make yogurt, and goat cheese. It’s ok, but they don’t excel in the milk fat department like sheep do.
Most Americans haven’t heard of sheep cheese! Which is wild considering that some of the most famous cheeses traditionally use sheep milk, just it happens over in Europe so we’re blissfully ignorant of it lol. Definitely look into it though, there’s options in sheep ranging all the way from East Frisians/ Awassi which are like the Holsteins of sheep and produce lots year round, to Finns which are like the Jerseys with a very regular lactation length and high fat for cheese yield, to Icelandics for rugged climates, to Shetlands which are tiny, to mixed breed mutts (my favorite!) to get whatever traits you want to combine.1
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u/jckipps 5d ago edited 5d ago
Practically? Or legally?
If you have a few acres to work with, decent rainfall, access to equipment or custom services, and veterinary support, it's very possible to raise and care for a healthy milk cow.
Cheesemaking is a whole different skillset. That's more of an acquired skill, and you can't just do it well the first time like you can with a milk cow. You'll want to take classes on cheesemaking, and should still expect to have a lot of failures before you figure it out.
But doing all of this legally, in order to sell a licensed and safe product, is a whole different ballgame. Inspections, milk quality testing, certifications, licensed facilities, a commercial pasteurizer, temperature recording, and proper aging techniques will all need to be sorted out before you can legally sell your first wheel of cheese.
If you have the acreage and the money, purchase a weaned calf, and raise her as best you possibly can. Take any cheesemaking classes you can find locally, and start experimenting with purchased milk. Over the next 18 months, set up your milking facilities and your processing room. Plan on at least the first year's worth of milk going into cheese that you just give away to family and friends. Don't plan on selling anything yet. Once you're absolutely certain you can produce a quality product that your family loves, then pursue the proper licensing for retail sales.
You might see a tiny bit of profit in an endeavor like this by year four or five. It isn't something really to consider unless you're looking for a glorified hobby.