Building, Managing

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Building, Managing Marketing a Grade A Raw
Milk Goat Dairy Producer Perspectives
Conway Family Farms, LLC Lorrie Conway
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Program Overview

• Business Planning
• Stock Selection
• Infrastructure
• Regulatory Issues
• Product Processing
• Marketing Customer Relations
• Other Management Considerations

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• Business Planning

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Business Planning Process
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Our non-negotiable philosophies

• Small is very beautiful!!!!
• Slow growth is healthy growth
• Maintain multiple revenue sources
• No revenue stream or endeavor will be added
  unless it benefits the rest of the farm
  (sustainable economically ecologically)
• We only add enterprises that we like, can do
  well, and can manage by ourselves.

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Our Truth

• We do not farm for the moneyit is the appeal
  of the lifestyle, an appreciation of the moments
  of calm while embracing those that are hectic and
  above all, it is a love of the land and animals.

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Conway Farm Profile

• 5 acres mostly flat pasture land, some wooded
  area, randomly disbursed coniferous trees.
• Rural 5 acre zone (not agricultural zoning)
• Private well water source
• Drip water reel irrigation systems
• Cross fencing for rotational grazing
• Raised bed gardens
• 2 main barns, 1 kid barn, 1 chicken house, 1 gift
  cottage/roadside stand, 1 greenhouse

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What We Do

• Livestock Production
• Diary Goats (Nubians)
• Sheep Production (Border Leicesters)
• Horticulture Endeavors
• Blueberry production
• Lavender
• Agritourism Ventures
• Field Trips
• Weddings Events
• Open Farm Tours
• Other things
• Honeybees
• Cut Flower Garden
• Bounty Boxes

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Creating a Business Plan

• Why?
• Considers all the options
• Research information
• Directs efforts and keeps you on track
• Provides a measurement tools for success
• Creates a roadmap for your business
• Provides you with sound financial
  information/expectations.
• Rememberthis is a living documentit will
  continue to evolve and change.

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Business Plan Components

• Executive Summary
• Company Summary
• Market Analysis
• Strategy Implementation
• Management Summary
• Financial Plan
• Exit Strategy

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• Stock Selection

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Stock Selection
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Stock Selection Considerations

• Health
• Disease Free (CAEV, Johnes, Caseous
  Lymphantidis-CL,TB, Brucellosis)
• Skin Conditions
• Respiratory Ailments
• Parasite Issues
• Kidding issues
• Production
• Choose animals that meet your business plan
  objectives for production.
• Cull those that fall short of production
  expectations.
• Ask to review production records
• If no production records are available, visit the
  farm (before purchasing a doe) at milking time to
  assess production.
• Efficiency
• Ask about appetite in relationship to production
• Assess condition-is she too fat or too thin?
• We look for Easy Keepers.

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Stock Selection Considerations

• Flavor of Milk
• Objectives of your business
• Personal taste
• Temperament
• Difficult does require more care in the milking
  parlor resulting in time loss
• Meek personalities can result in inadequate food
  consumption
• Overbearing does can cause behavior issues
  resulting in injury etc
• Structural soundness show quality
• Objectives of your business
• Structural soundness will result in longevity
• Good feet and legs are essential for long lasting
  animals!
• Performance programs as a measure of structural
  correctness
• NOTEA doe, even one with an excellent mammary
  system, will only be productive as long as her
  body remains sound! The whole package is
  crucial!!!

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A Visual Case for Proper Selection

• Maddie
• 1st freshening two year old
• Freshened 5/17/06
• Triplets
• LA Score 78

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Problems

• Improper teat placement is difficult to milk
• Improper leg set is creating feet and back
  breakdown at a very young age
• Overweight not outstanding production
• Steep rump could
• result in kidding issues

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A Visual Case for Proper Selection

• Juniper
• 7th freshening eight year old
• Freshened 3/07/06
• Twins
• LA Score 92

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What else can we say

• 8 year old doe still walking on excellent feet
  and legs requires less hoof trimming.
• Beautifully placed teats for ease of milking
  less milking time.
• Long flat rump for easy kiddings less 2 a.m.
  barn encounters dealing with dystocias.
• Remember, the goal is to choose
• does that require minimum inputs
• with maximum outputs!

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• Infrastructure

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Infrastructure Considerations
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Infrastructure Components

• Doe Housing Facilities
• Kidding Facilities
• Kid Housing Facilities
• Feed Storage
• Milking Facilities
• Processing Facilities

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Suggested Infrastructure Process

• Refer to business plan objectives
• Evaluate what you currently have
• Consider options and devise a theoretical plan
• Contact your dairy inspector and make an
  appointment with them to review your theoretical
  plan. Take good notes!

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Suggested Infrastructure Process

• Contact your local building department to review
  current building codes as they apply to what you
  are doingmake certain they understand this is an
  agricultural building!
• Contact your waste management authority to review
  your grey-water and parlor waste plan. Again,
  make certain they understand your application.
• Obtain necessary permits and begin the
  construction process.

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• Regulatory Issues

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Meeting Regulatory Requirements and Agency
Relationships

• Honest
• Be transparent brainstorm solutions to barriers
• Persistent
• No room for shrinking violets here
• Creative
• Think outside the box
• Consistent
• Apply your processes consistently

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Licensing Process

• Obtain copy of Pasteurized Milk Ordinance
• Obtain copy of Revised Code of Washington RCW
  15.36
• Obtain WDSA The Green Book.
• Obtain an Application for a Grade A Milk
  Producer License
• Obtain an Application for a Milk Processor
  License
• Attend local food handling class through county
  health department.

PMO can be found at http//www.idfa.org/reg/actua
l_2003pmo.pdf 358 pages
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Licensing your process

• Review requirements
• Apply requirements to your processes
• Begin addressing each component of the licensing
  application one at a time.
• Well water tested at a local laboratory
• Document your cooling times/methods
• Have your milk tested for Total Plate Count,
  Somatic Cell Count, Coliform Count to assure it
  meets standardsperhaps more than once. This can
  be done at a food safety lab.

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Licensing your process

• Begin addressing each component of the licensing
  application one at a time (continued)
• As you are milking/processing your milk, document
  each step of your process
• Begin designing your labels and check your
  nutritional label requirementsUSFDA Website
  www.usfda.gov allows you to determine if you are
  exempt from nutritional labeling requirements and
  provides a form that can be filled out and faxed
  to register your exemption.
• Tubercullosis and Brucsellosis testing of all
  animals
• Draw a farm plan.
• Draw a floor plan.

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Suggestions for Regulatory Relationships

• Do your research before you call
• Take good notes note date, time, person you
  spoke with and outcome of the conversation-keep
  this record
• The agency is there to help if you dont receive
  the information you need, keep digging
• Discuss your creative ideas with your agency
  official (FSO-Food Safety Officer) before
  implementing
• Once you have established a good (approved)
  process, be consistent in its application.
• Stay informed about pending legislation issues
  that affect ag current events. It is our
  responsibility as producers to remain current
  with issues that affect our business.
• Capital Press

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• Processing

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Our Process-A Virtual Tour
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Milk Processing Room
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To the Milk Parlor
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Cleaning Processes

• For the goats
• Iodine based udder wash
• Disposable towels to wash/dry
• Pre/post treat with Fight Bac
• For utensils
• Antibacterial soap
• Bleach, bleach bleach!
• pH test strips

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Bottling Preparation
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Bottling Preparation
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Bottling Process
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• Marketing

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Marketing with the 5 Ps

• Packaging
• Placement
• Pricing
• Promotion
• People
• and two more
• PERSISTANCE
• PATIENCE

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Marketing Considerations

• WHO will buy your products and WHY?
• Answering this helps you decide
• Where to sell your products
• How to package your products
• What messages to convey on labels and when
  communicating about your products
• What are the barriers challenges?
• How will your products reach your customers?

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Marketing Options

• Refer to your business plan objectives and
  research
• Direct Marketing
• Farmers Markets
• Contract or Creamery
• Co-op
• Retail

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Our Marketing ChoiceDirect Marketing On-site

• Pros
• Customer Contact-creating community ties,
  customer loyalty
• Production rate is self-managed-no contracted
  production rate.
• Possible higher return
• Ability to educate end-user.
• Recall ability customer specific.
• Immediate feedback response on product quality.
• Diverse customer base increased income
  security.

• Cons
• Constant frequent traffic
• Boundary violations
• Always on display
• Advertising costs
• No-shows result in compromised product.
• Bio-security risks.
• On-site personnel necessary to fulfill sales.
• Honor system violations.
• High-turnover in customer basefickle customers.

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• Potpourri of other Management Considerations

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Record Keeping and Other Concerns

• Record Keeping
• Health Records
• Milk Cooling/Production Records
• Customer Records
• Milk Pick-Up Records

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Health Records

• White Board recording
• Master Record
• Information is then transferred onto individual
  doe records similar to medical charts.
• Individual doe records contain information about
  kiddings, illnesses, artificial insemination
  experiences, meds given etc.

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Milk Cooling Production Records

• Milk Cooling Chart
• End time is the time that the last bottle jug is
  put in the ice bath
• Pull time records the last bottled jugs temp
  which is recorded
• Production Records
• Each does milk is weighed and recorded morning
  and evening. Based on the starting time recorded
  on this cooling chart we can easily monitor
  production levels
• We maintain production records by lactation year
  so that we can compare year to year.
• Of course, DHIR is our official record.

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Customer Records

• Each customer fills out a Customer Contact Form
• Each customer signs an Agreement to Purchase Raw
  Milk
• All customers are provided with a copy of the
  farm handbook outlining expectations
• A master calendar is kept to recording upcoming
  order
• A pick-up card records who picked up milk and
  when and places orders for the following pick-up

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The Drug Panic

• Drugs available/labeled for goat use is minimal
  at best.
• Withdrawal times will be more difficult to
  determine. Must have a veterinarian you love and
  trust. It helps if they love and trust you too!
• Scheduled maintenance of animals (worming) can be
  done during dry periods.
• My philosophy regarding withdrawal timesbetter
  safe than sorryerr on the side of extreme
  caution!
• Bottom lineConsult your veterinarian!

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Some of Our Practices

• DHIR to monitor SCC
• CMT (California Mastitis Tests) randomly and
  regularly.
• Worm during off-milking season and monitor
  parasite load during milking season with fecals.
• Highly attentive condition monitoring of
  animalswhat goes in also comes out!
• High SCC does-milk is only used for kids.
• Total change in antibiotics used.

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Vendor Supply Availability

• TIME KNOW WHERE YOU CAN GET YOUR SUPPLIES
  BEFORE YOU START.
• Assess production needs
• Cleaning supplies, sanitation, preparation
• Assess packaging needs
• Containers, labels, closures, shipping supplies
• Locate approved sources of supplies and determine
  shipping/pick-up methods.
• Tip We have one supply run day per month.
  Our suppliers are located fairly close together
  and we assess production and pick up necessary
  supplies for 30-45 days at a time.

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Other Management Considerations

• Demand for more milk than is seasonally
  available.
• Helping customers understand this is a seasonal
  food source.
• Juggling kiddings to maintain a constant supply
  of new milk.
• Caring for new kids is time consuming
• Kidding off season can create health issues
• 24/7/365 (can)BURN-OUT!
• Family Focus?
• Reliable help from other sources?

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Final Thoughts

• Is a Grade A Raw Dairy sustainable?
• Is it feasible?
• Are there costs involved?
• Would I recommend it?

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Thats All Folks!