The House Cow and Her Economical and Ecological Value.

We used to have a small dairy herd and raised our 7 children with fresh milk and some home made dairy products. After immigrating to Canada we all missed the taste of fresh milk and since we had room in our old bank barn we started searching for a suitable animal to provide for us.

At that point we spent about $4 for milk $3 for butter, and $3 for other dairy products a day. This makes $10 a day or $3650 a year. Plus 8 plastic bags, or wrapping or containers a day adds to 2920 pieces of plastic in one year.

We found a young Jersey not measuring up to high standard breed specification, but good enough for us. We named her Gretel and she soon became a family pet. Now we have plenty of milk, rich enough to make cream and butter all we needed, even surplus to experiment with cheese making. And not enough, today’s cows production even at the low end is above 10 litres a day so she nursed a calf besides being milked by hand. Calves that provided us with our first home raised beef. The cow had cost us $500 to purchase, had 3 calves (value $400 each, after being weaned) and we milked her for about 4 years. To keep one cow doesn’t require any extra set up. There was room to tie in the barn, plenty of grass around the barnyard for her to graze on a long lead, no need for a fence. A stainless steel milking bucket and a wheelbarrow was about the only investment required.

The time to go shopping and to go for a workout in any of the fitness centres is easily recaptured with time spend milking, feeding, cleaning, together with our children who love to play with the calf and sing along the tune mom is singing while milking or walking from the barn back to the house with a bucket of warm milk.

One might think if one cow is such a benefit then a larger number must surely be an easy and profitable venture. Let’s see.

If I had ten cows I would need to make improvements in the barn and to the fence

$ 5000, - easily add a milking machine and cooling system min. $20.000,- Milk quota because I would need to sell it, is about $10.000,- per cow, times 10. total 125.000,- Dollars not including the purchase of cows. A big investment to be a little farmer milking only ten cows. No, the milk truck would not even bother to drive up the lane and the bank not lending any money. Better milk 50 or 100 cows to make it worth while but would I still have time to make my own butter and cheese? Or to sing with my children? Or to give to this animal any personal attention ?

Let’s face it, small is beautiful and farming is a life style where we win or loose with the way we choose.