# Questions about selling legally



## anderson (Jun 1, 2014)

My husband and I have decided to set up a Grade A micro dairy over a period of time using cash only. We both have outside jobs to gradually fund this venture. We've come up with some building and equipment ideas that we really think will work so we can keep it very small scale and affordable yet meet Grade A qualifications - for example buying a refrigerated van body to use as our creamery.

We've only just got started - we only have 5 goats and a small milking parlor that is currently very far from Grade A. 

Now, an opportunity is presenting itself and I want to talk to you all about it first, before we take a single step with it.

Our friend has friends who own a small Grade A cow dairy and they have just opened up a store in town selling dairy products. She mentioned our goats to them and said they sound very interested. There isn't any fresh goat milk available in this area.

We are considering rushing things along to get our milking parlor up to Grade A quality and then bringing the milk to their dairy for pasteurization and processing. We haven't even brought it up with them yet. We don't want to, until we find out if the USDA would accept an arrangement like this and what we would need to do to make it work.

We were thinking about coming up with a way to pasteurize at their facility using large double boilers, then making it into frozen yogurt. We don't have enough goats to make any profit selling the milk by the gallon, but they sell single-scoop ice cream cones and we might be able to carve out a niche selling it to people who can't tolerate cow ice cream.

Is this just a pie in the sky dream or is there any possibility it could work?

ETA: these people have made it very clear that they are looking to work with others who want to sell things at their store. They've had the family dairy for generations but their store has just opened up.


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## JN (Nov 4, 2011)

Hello. This sounds very exciting! 

I am not from your state. We're in TX. I don't have a dairy but we have looked into it and talked with the TX Health Dept. They recommended that before we do anything we have our local inspector come out and look at our place and talk with us about what we need to do. They said that each inspector is different and some are more strict than others. Inspectors are who we will be dealing with so that is who we need to please. So...I would recommend calling your State Health Dept and speaking to someone in the Dairy Division. Ask them who the inspector is in your area, contact them and go from there. Good luck and blessings to you and yours.


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## anderson (Jun 1, 2014)

Thanks, JN  I sure hope this works out. I don't know what the inspector will be like and I don't know if it would be a good idea to have them come out before we get things super sanitary. I'm worried they would get the wrong first impression otherwise. ON the other hand I'd really value their input.....


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## anderson (Jun 1, 2014)

I just called the extension agent  Very disappointing news.


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## JN (Nov 4, 2011)

I would not hesitate to have the inspector come out. I had the same concerns. I told the man in the dairy division the same thing. He said it is better to let them come out and tell you what to do than for you to work on your place and then they say to do something totally different than what you have already done or started on. That makes sense to me. The health dept/dairy divisioin/inspectors can give you much more accurate advice and info than your local extension agent. At least that is what I have found. Also...I have been to a few Grade A Dairies and I was somewhat shocked. I expected their facilities to be much more clean and sanitary than what I found. They weren't "nasty" but not **** and span like I imagined they would be. Not by far.


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

What did the inspector say that was bad news?


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