The Small Scale Dairy

Caldwell offers readers a balanced perspective on the current regulatory environment in which raw-milk lovers find themselves. Keepers of cows, goats, or sheep will benefit from information on designing a well-functioning small dairy, choosing equipment, and understanding myriad processes, including details about the business of making milk; managing the farm to create superior milk; understanding the microbiology of milk; and risk-reduction plans to have in place prior to selling raw milk.

Food processing offers excellent income-generating opportunities for those wishing to start up in business. With this in mind, this comprehensive manual provides a detailed description of how to process milk into a variety of dairy products including cheese and milk confectionary. Topics covered include markets, equipment and facilities, managing a dairy, and health and safety issues. The guide should be read in conjunction with volume 1 in the series (see 1041), which introduces aspects such as technical know-how, business skills and customer care.

Starting a small scale farm is the dream of Americans young and old, from those who watched the majesty of the great western farm in films during their youth to those who spent their childhood actually working on a farm. However, for many of these individuals it is a matter of logistics and cost that keeps them from realizing their dreams. Raising beef cattle, ducks, rabbits, and any other small animals such as sheep, goats, or chickens takes not only a decent amount of money to get started, but know how that doesn't come in textbooks while in school. This book was written with the intent of providing anyone who has ever wanted to start their own small scale farm the necessary resources and information needed to start raising small animals and cattle. You will learn everything you need to know to raise a wide variety of small animals. You will learn how to care for chickens, from choosing the right breed to raising them for egg production. You will learn how to handle geese and ducks, choosing the correct breeds, feeding, housing, breeding, and selecting the right ones for egg production. You will also learn about egg incubation, maintaining poultry health, and how raise them for meat. Other animals you will learn how to care for include rabbits, goats, sheep, dairy cows, and beef cattle. Small farmers and animal experts have been interviewed in detail and their responses added to this book to provide additional insight into every aspect of raising farm animals. This includes details about how to purchase, house, feed, breed, record, and butcher animals of all types as well as how to gather milk, use goats and cows for maintaining your fields, and even keeping records of births and selling babies. Everything you might need to know about raising small animals for your farm is included in this guide to provide you the first steps to raising domesticated poultry and livestock. Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company presidentâe(tm)s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.

The cow is the most productive, efficient creature on earth. She will give you fresh milk, cream, butter, and cheese, build human health and happiness, and even turn a profit for homesteaders and small farmers who seek to offer her bounty to the local market or neighborhood. She will provide rich manure for your garden or land, and will enrich the quality of your life as you benefit from the resources of the natural world. Quite simply, the family that keeps a cow is a healthy family. Originally published in the early 1970s as The Cow Economy and reprinted many times over, Keeping a Family Cow has launched thousands of holistic small-scale dairy farmers and families raising healthy cows in accordance with their true nature. The book offers answers to frequently asked questions like, 'Should I get a cow?' and 'How Much Space do I need?' in addition to extensive information on: • The health benefits of untreated milk; • How to milk a cow effectively and with ease; • Choosing your dairy breed; • Drying off your cow; • Details on calving and breeding; • The importance of hay quality and how to properly feed your cow; • Fencing and pasture management; • Housing, water systems, and other supplies; • Treating milk fever and other diseases and disorders; • Making butter, yogurt, and cheese, and, of course . . . • . . . Everything else the conventional dairy industry doesn’t tell us! Now revised and updated to incorporate new information on the raw milk debate, the conversation about A1 vs. A2 milk, fully grassfed dairies, more practical advice for everyday chores, and updated procedures for cow emergencies. Keeping a Family Cow has not only stood the test of time, it still remains the go-to inspirational manual for raising a family milk cow nearly forty years after its first publication. Joann Grohman has a lifetime of practical experience that has been bound into this one volume and presented in the spirit of fun and learning.

The key to becoming a successful artisan cheesemaker is to develop the intuition essential for problem solving and developing unique styles of cheeses. There are an increasing number of books on the market about making cheese, but none approaches the intricacies of cheesemaking science alongside considerations for preparing each type of cheese variety in as much detail as Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking. Indeed, this book fills a big hole in the market. Beginner guides leave you wanting more content and explanation of process, while recipe-based cookbooks often fail to dig deeper into the science, and therefore don’t allow for a truly intuitive cheesemaker to develop. Acclaimed cheesemaker Gianaclis Caldwell has written the book she wishes existed when she was starting out. Every serious home-scale artisan cheesemaker—even those just beginning to experiment—will want this book as their bible to take them from their first quick mozzarella to a French mimolette, and ultimately to designing their own unique cheeses. This comprehensive and user-friendly guide thoroughly explains the art and science that allow milk to be transformed into epicurean masterpieces. Caldwell offers a deep look at the history, science, culture, and art of making artisan cheese on a small scale, and includes detailed information on equipment and setting up a home-scale operation. A large part of the book includes extensive process-based recipes dictating not only the hard numbers, but also the concepts behind each style of cheese and everything you want to know about affinage (aging) and using oils, brushes, waxes, infusions, and other creative aging and flavoring techniques. Also included are beautiful photographs, profiles of other cheesemakers, and in-depth appendices for quick reference in the preparation and aging room. Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking will also prove an invaluable resource for those with, or thinking of starting, a small-scale creamery. Let Gianaclis Caldwell be your mentor, guide, and cheering section as you follow the pathway to a mastery of cheesemaking. For the avid home hobbyist to the serious commercial artisan, Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking is an irreplaceable resource.

The role of employment in poverty-reduction programmes in developing countries has received considerable attention the world over. Many new employment opportunities in many developing countries are created in the informal sector where the rate of growth may be higher than that of the formal sector. Dairy markets offer good opportunities for non-farm rural and urban employment. This may particularly be true in informal milk markets, which rely less on modern milk processing equipment and more on traditional labour-intensive technologies. The case studies from Kenya, Bangladesh and Ghana provide an opportunity to gain strategic insights into how small-scale dairy marketing and processing can contribute significantly to rural and urban employment, most of which occurs in the informal sector. The capacity for small-scale dairy processing and marketing to generate jobs in rural communities, as well as in peri-urban and urban areas, is demonstrated. Although the evidence presented here is based on simple case studies and should be taken as only indicative, it nevertheless demonstrates the strong potential for even small quantities of milk to generate employment in rural and peri-urban areas.

Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming provides insight into the logistics, infrastructure and management required for the development of small and large dairy farms in tropical developing countries. Farmers will learn how to improve the welfare, milk quality and productivity of their dairy herds. This book complements author John Moran’s five previous books on the principles of tropical dairy farming. The manual covers a wide range of topics related to ensuring the sustainability of dairy production systems in tropical developing countries, such as South and East Asia, Africa and Central America. It also provides guidelines for the best management practices of large-scale, more intensive dairy systems. While smallholder farms are the major suppliers of milk in the tropics, many larger farms are becoming established throughout the tropics to satisfy the increasing demands for fresh milk. Blueprints for Tropical Dairy Farming will be a valuable resource for farmers and stockpeople who want to improve the productive performance of their dairy herds, farm advisers who can assist farmers to achieve this aim, educators who develop training programs for farmers or who train dairy advisers in the basics of dairy production technology, and other stakeholders in tropical dairy production, such as local agribusiness, policy makers and research scientists. National and international agencies will learn new insights into the required long-term logistics for regional dairy development, while potential investors will acquire knowledge into intensive tropical dairy farming.

Originally published in 2010 under the title The farmstead creamery advisor.