In Alaska, as in many other states, you cannot simply buy unpasteurized milk. If you want "raw" milk, you must own the dairy animal that produced it. A herd-share is just that, a shared-ownership into a diary herd. We can't sell you milk, but we can sell you a stake into our diary herd, making you an owner, and giving you the right to drink the milk from your animal. It's silly, we know. Vote accordingly. Moving on.

Owning any animal basically comes down to two things: buying the animal, and maintaining the animal. This is the basis of our herd-share program. You buy however many shares of the herd to meet your weekly milk needs, and then you pay a monthly boarding and care fee to the Farm to take care of the cows. Each week on your designated day, you come to the farm and get your share of the milk. The share buy-in is a one-time cost for as long as you wish to participate in our program. If you need to cancel at anytime, we will buy back the share from you. The monthly boarding and care fee goes towards feeding the cows, covering routine veterinary expenses, buying bedding material for clean stalls, buying sanitation supplies, etc.

Generally, 1 share = 1 gallon of milk per week, and a half-share = 1/2 gallon per week. But there may be unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances when there is no milk available for a time. If an event happens that causes share-owners to miss out on milk, we do our best to get everyone "caught-up" in the coming weeks after that event when milk is available again. Part of owning livestock is illness and injury, sometimes necessitating the need to dump the milk instead of consuming it.

Full share: $100 one-time buy-in, $87/month boarding and care fee

Half-share: $50 one-time buy-in, $43.50/month boarding and care fee

You are not responsible for covering medical expenses for the cows beyond your monthly boarding and care fee. If a cow had a case of mastitis that requires antibiotics, for example, there is a "withdrawal period" requiring that the milk be discarded for a certain number of days after the last dose is administered, making milk not available for a short time. In this situation, you would still pay your monthly fee because this is part of owning a cow and meeting their care needs.

Because raising animals in Alaska costs a fortune. And then, feeding them well costs another fortune, haha. There's also the cost to have the cows bred each year so they keep producing milk, straw and wood shavings to keep them clean when they lay down to rest, supplies to clean the milk parlor, creamery, and equipment, routine vet bills and lab testing, and a few other things I'm sure I'm forgetting. Because of all of this, the overhead is high.

The short answer is yes, however, we really appreciate at least a 10-day notice. We understand life struggles, hardships, changing family dynamics, and whatnot. If you need to leave the program, we will refund you your one-time share buy-in cost once you have returned any jars and lids still in your possession.

That said, the biggest reason we like advance notice is because sometimes what you really need is temporary special accommodations if our reason for leaving the program isn't solely a financial decision. As we are community-minded, we want you in our herd-share family for the long haul and will do what we can to get you through a sticky situation if at all possible.

The milk you receive weekly is raw and unadulterated, the only "processing" it receives is a filter that it passes through between the udder and the milk tank. Your milk is poured directly from the milk tank into the jar, which is then placed into an ice-bath to chill the milk as quickly as we can. The milk you receive will be between 24-48 hours old, well-chilled, and have a very distinctive cream-cap on top.

Unfortunately no, not really (see the explanation with the first question, and again vote accordingly). You cannot just buy cream (or any unpasteurized/non-USDA sanctioned dairy product for that matter). But, as a share-owner, there may be times when extra dairy products (extra milk, cream, butter, yogurt, etc.) are available as an add-on to your weekly allotment.

We have farm pick-up available 7 days a week. Ideally, we're able to plug you into a day that works best for you and that becomes your designate day to get milk. We hope that one day soon it'll make sense for use to do drop-off locations on certain days of the week, but we're not there yet.

They eat local hay, alfalfa hay, a grain ration (while in milk), and have protein, minerals and salt supplements readily available to them. "But what kind of grain" you say? Whatever the cows eat the best (they can be picky too). Currently, and our preference is, a grain ration from Alaska Mill and Feed. We try our best to keep our supply-chains as short as possible so that the cows get a consistent diet and you get a consistent product as a result. We value high-quality, nutrient-dense food, as do you. And producing that requires that a lot of nutrients get into the cow. Otherwise they will pull the necessary minerals and proteins from their own bodies to put into the milk, shortening their own lifespans in the process.

We have set up our share program to have milk year around, that is if the cows get bred when we want them to. So ideally, yes.

Store-bought milk is pasteurized, which not only kills any bacteria but also destroys enzymes in the milk that helps digest the milk. The pasteurization process also alters the structure of the milk proteins, fats, and sugars. All of this likely contributes to your tummy ache. Not only is our milk "raw," but it comes from A2A2 Jersey cows, meaning, the proteins and sugars are easier to digest similar to goats milk (but tastes better, in my cow-biased opinion). If you have concerns, we can offer you a small sample so you can "try before you buy," as they say.

Great question! Start by connecting with us via email, phone or Instagram. We can answer any remaining questions and get you set-up with a time to see the farm and sign the herd-share contract. I look forward to connecting with you!