Why I’m considering buying my own dairy cow

I know – it sounds crazy. why would I buy my own cow? But after reading this article from Salon.com about organic milk (which costs almost $10 a gallon even here in dairy-friendly VT): http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/04/13/milk/index.html?pn=3

Did you know that large dairy farms – non-organic ones – feed their calves chicken manure? I have chickens and that’s just disgusting.

Not to mention rBGH and the whole Monsanto business – http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

So – I did a little basic math. I have enough pasture for a cow to eat along with my sheep and llama for five good months out of the year. So I’ll need seven months worth of hay at $3/bale. That’s $650. Plus I’ll need about $500-$750 worth of grain a year – $10-$15 bag per 50lb bag per week. So far I’m at $1400. If a heifer costs me $1000 and I have her for 10 years, that’s about $100 per year. I’m not including the cost of vet care – yet. So – about $1500 a year for a cow – and we get all the milk, butter and cheese we can eat (I’ll have to figure in the cost of rennet at some point).

I spend $1820 a year in milk alone. $1300 in butter and about that much in cheese. Wow. That’s almost $4500 a year in dairy products- and that doesn’t include yogurt, sour cream or whipped cream on occasion.

I think I’ve made my decision…we’ll have to see what the rest of the fam thinks…