Self-intro of Jan - Middleton, TN

[Guest guest]

Hi, My name is Jan Haybert and I am a new member. I first tried raw milk in May of last year (2009) at a cheese-making class in the Mad River Valley of Vermont and wanted more. Since we already had a farm and chickens I begged, pleaded and badgered my husband for a family cow explaining the health benefits for us, my aging parents and our first grandchild. I told him with the scarcity of raw milk in our area we could sell what we didn't use and that would more than pay for the expense of keeping the cow. Instead of saying yes, he said "If we are going to be tied to milking one cow twice a day, we might as well be tied to 30 and so we decided to start a small dairy/processing plant. Right now we have 6 cows milking and since we are in Tennessee we sell our milk as "Pet Quality - Not for human consumption". Tennessee does not allow the sale of raw milk for human consumption, but does allow cow/herd shares. We will eventually sell butter, yogurt, cheese and ice cream as well as slow-pasteurized creamline milk, along with raw milk. We are retired city folks so this is a big change for us and we love it. I am looking forward to being a member of your group. Thank you! Jan Hayberthaybert@...Hardeman County, TN