Hopefully this is the right place for this post...

I'm curious as to how the Organic Dairy industry is doing in Maine. I'm going to be moving back over the summer, and would like to go back to working on a dairy farm. How is the organic market? Are farmers "making it" with all the fluctuations in the price of milk? Is there work to be found for an experienced farmer, or would I do better to work on purchasing a herd?\
Thanks for your thoughts,
Jeff

Hi Jeff. Congrats on moving back to Maine. Where are you coming from and where you moving to when you get back here? Anyway - if you don't know about the news lately re Maine organic milk, start looking here at these links and get up to date.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/100620.html
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_19352.cfm

Here's a MOF&G article from 2006...the 'good old days'...
http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Spring2006/OrganicDairy/tabid/209/Default.aspx

Based on my informal research, small dairy farming (up to 100 cows)is an extremely skinny margin and even tougher than many other kinds of small farm enterprises. That said, your success in selling your organic milk is as good as your ability as a marketer, direct sales person, and deal closer... In other words, I believe it is more important to be a good marketer/salesman than it is farmer when it comes to any small farm enterprise. Organic farmstead cheese is a growing concern as well - once again, i believe it is just as important that you have a good story & direct marketing/sales plan as it is to have good cheese.

People are still buying organic milk and organic dairy products...question is can you sell it to the people that will resell it to them?

Best margin i have found with least market fluctuation for a smallholder is varied vegetable produce. with my farm being so tiny though, it's a cobbled together variety (for our own consumption and for sale) of product that will suit us best...

Moose

Moose

The conventional style dairy business is a tough one everywhere now days. Either organic or the regular markets. I'm sure there are jobs to be had on farms, most are under staffed but what kind of pay you can get is variable. If I was looking to start up a commercial cow dairy at this time I'd check out people that are bottling their own and selling retail. Capture the entire price, or at least the lion's share of it yourself. You could get alone with a much smaller herd that way. There are a few places here in Maine doing this. Good luck.

Posted By Wyr Evyr Farm on 20 Apr 2010 06:55 AM
If I was looking to start up a commercial cow dairy at this time I'd check out people that are bottling their own and selling retail. Capture the entire price, or at least the lion's share of it yourself. You could get alone with a much smaller herd that way. There are a few places here in Maine doing this. Good luck.

I definitely agree. There's a farm in Belfast, Keene Dairy, that was having a hard time staying in business. After receiving encouragement from locals, they started bottling their own raw milk. They told me that they could not meet the demand, and they're probably in better shape than when they were selling to a middleman. Their milk is sold at Hannaford, at local gas & grocery places, and a couple of small markets, and those places have told me they sell out regularly, even though the price is slightly higher than pasteurized milk.

There is a huge market for raw, btw, and Maine is thankfully one of the few states that allows retail sales of raw milk. If you were to go raw and organic, the selling price is even higher.

Vermonters were moaning last week that the number of cows per capita has fallen below IDAHO's, i.e. VT is now #2. Still plenty of dairies, but many dying ones and quite a few corporate ones. Organic dairies are still rare and there is the inherent dangers of selling 'raw milk'...I grew up drinking it and we always inspected the dairy and the cows for sanitary practices. Running a small bottling operation sounds romantic until you do it for a while. Good luck in finding your perfect farm.