What Do Raw Dairy Products Cost?
I know prices will vary depending on location, competition and availability….. BUT –
Whoa!
I was stunned to see some local prices for the things I harvest right on my homestead. I should be selling this stuff!
The week before Christmas I took the kids shopping. There happened to be a health food store next door to the place where the kids were doing their Christmas browsing. I needed to buy salt. Real Salt is what I use. I usually purchase it from a wholesale supplier. I ran out. Walmart does not sell Real Salt.
So, I stopped in the little health-food store to buy salt. This particular store is a small, health-food, chain that is local to Kentucky. It’s adorable, it’s charming, it only carries real food.
While I was there I couldn’t help glancing in the dairy case.
Organic, pastured eggs $4.29 per doz. This may even be the 33% off price. I couldn’t tell.
Hold on to your hats folks……. and you may want to sit down. 1 pound of butter….. that’s 4 sticks…… costs: $9.29. That’s $2.32 per stick!!!
Anyone who has eaten butter or something cooked in butter at my house is familiar with cultured butter. Cultured butter is simply butter made from cream that sat on the counter a few hours before being churned into butter. While sitting on the counter the cream begins to ferment thanks to the naturally occurring bacteria in the raw milk. This gives it depth, flavor, a little pleasant sourness, and added health benefits; it also happens to make the cream ‘come’ into butter a heck of a lot faster.
I do not ‘culture’ my butter for taste or health reasons. I culture my butter because I don’t want to spend my entire day waiting on butter. If that happens to make it healthier – even better.
Organic Milk $3.99 per gallon. We drink 6 gallons of milk a week. That would cost me $47.88 per week…… for milk…….. milk only. What??!! That’s about $200 per month. On MILK.
In 6 month’s time if you could buy your own dairy cow if you just saved the milk money! (You may want to check with your HOA before you get the cow.)
The cost to feed, house, water, hay, etc a dairy cow in your yard is nowhere near $200 per month. It’s more like $3 per day. And you’ll get cream, butter, milk, buttermilk, whip cream, crème fraîche, yogurt, cheese, sour cream, and anything else you happen to feel like doing with all that wonderful FREE milk.
Moral of the story. Buy a cow. Well, if you live on a farm and like milk you should buy a cow. wink
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XO,
Candi
