At 10:43 PM 9/16/03 -0400, you wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone on the list has had any experience leasing
>cows from an individual, and if so could give some guidelines (or tell me
>where to look) on how leases work and what kind of price is reasonable.
>Wanting to add to an existing 40 cow grazing herd and looking to lease 20
>to 30 more Jersey or Jersey crosses. Any information would be greatly
>appreciated.
Funny you should ask--I just this evening took delivery on eight cows that
I'm renting from another farmer. The deal makes sense simply because their
milk is worth more to me than to the lessor's coop, so I'm paying him
more than his net per cow per deim.
Actually, since he was feeding some grain, and I won't be, I'll be paying
him for the milk he would have gotten, not the lesser amount that I'll be
getting on just grass. But it's still a good deal for me, since it will
add another 20 lbs of cheese to my daily production, cheese that I need to
meet holiday demand in November-December.
Having just gotten eight cows who trained in a swing parlor into my
tiestall barn, I'm now in bad need of a shower. As Monty Python would say,
"You can tell he's the king, he's not covered in shit". guess I'm not the
king tonight!
Jonathan & Nina White, Cheesemakers <mailto:jonathan@cowsoutside.com>
Bobolink Dairy: grass-fed raw-milk cheeses and wood-fired breads
located between Vernon, New Jersey and Warwick, New York--public tastings
on the farm,every Sat 9-5 and Sun 12-5
please visit us at: <http://www.cowsoutside.com>
