CSA Milk Herdshare
What is a Herdshare???
The consumer purchases a share in a dairy herd, in our case a goat herd. The farmer and the consumer enter into a contract whereby the farmer feeds and boards the animals and provides the labor to milk the animals and store the consumer’s milk. This is a legal and binding contract. The consumer does not buy milk from the farmer; rather, they pay the farmer for the service of keeping the animals and her labor for milking. Herdshare programs share the farmers’ liability since the animals belong to the consumers and the consumers are drinking the milk from their own animals.
Our Goat Herd Share
Owning a share in the Rogue Artisan Goat Dairy herd ensures a weekly supply of fresh, organically-fed, unprocessed whole milk for your family.
We are milking 3 does in the share. The goats achieve peak milk production in the summer season; we continue to milk year round, though production will decrease during the winter months. Each share is 1/25th of these 3 does. We calculated our yearly production of milk, divided it by 25 shares and concluded that each share receives an average of 1 half- gallon of milk a week throughout the year (~2 gallons a month). If a half- gallon of milk a week is too much for your household to consume, we also offer half shares. Additional products will occasionally be offered for a time and labor charge. This may include fresh and hard cheese, yogurt and other value added dairy products and can be purchased by herdshare members for a small additional fee.
Our weekly fee of $7.00 is the ‘agistment fee’ for feeding, pasturing, herding, caring for, and milking the herd. The $4 buy-in fee includes 2 personal milk jars (to be returned when selling back share). A week notice is required if you will not be picking up milk on your regular pickup day. Milk can be skipped or deferred to next weeks delivery a couple times a year, ideally once every two or three months. If milk delivery is skipped more often than this you may be asked to purchase milk as a non-member.
We are excited about the Herdshare concept broadening access to fresh unpasteurized milk. With the herdshare in place, we are also able to offer other products to members, like yogurt and cheese.
Please contact us with any questions.
The consumer purchases a share in a dairy herd, in our case a goat herd. The farmer and the consumer enter into a contract whereby the farmer feeds and boards the animals and provides the labor to milk the animals and store the consumer’s milk. This is a legal and binding contract. The consumer does not buy milk from the farmer; rather, they pay the farmer for the service of keeping the animals and her labor for milking. Herdshare programs share the farmers’ liability since the animals belong to the consumers and the consumers are drinking the milk from their own animals.
Our Goat Herd Share
Owning a share in the Rogue Artisan Goat Dairy herd ensures a weekly supply of fresh, organically-fed, unprocessed whole milk for your family.
We are milking 3 does in the share. The goats achieve peak milk production in the summer season; we continue to milk year round, though production will decrease during the winter months. Each share is 1/25th of these 3 does. We calculated our yearly production of milk, divided it by 25 shares and concluded that each share receives an average of 1 half- gallon of milk a week throughout the year (~2 gallons a month). If a half- gallon of milk a week is too much for your household to consume, we also offer half shares. Additional products will occasionally be offered for a time and labor charge. This may include fresh and hard cheese, yogurt and other value added dairy products and can be purchased by herdshare members for a small additional fee.
Our weekly fee of $7.00 is the ‘agistment fee’ for feeding, pasturing, herding, caring for, and milking the herd. The $4 buy-in fee includes 2 personal milk jars (to be returned when selling back share). A week notice is required if you will not be picking up milk on your regular pickup day. Milk can be skipped or deferred to next weeks delivery a couple times a year, ideally once every two or three months. If milk delivery is skipped more often than this you may be asked to purchase milk as a non-member.
We are excited about the Herdshare concept broadening access to fresh unpasteurized milk. With the herdshare in place, we are also able to offer other products to members, like yogurt and cheese.
Please contact us with any questions.