Post by Nonesuch Melissa on Dec 2, 2013 8:06:17 GMT -5
Now with the milk tests we can all test cheaper and why nto test?
My point is to those selling; I am much more likely to buy a cow from someone who tests than someone who doesn't. In fact, with the cheap tests I will likely never buy a cow again without testing or a known test result...now to go sell my cow.
On one hand you talk about tests being cheap (presumably when someone else is paying), on the other you complain about paying $200 per cow for your required testing... I am confused about what it is you are trying to say.
I'm going to just say right here... your statement above is simply not true. You may be more likely to buy a cow that tests NEGATIVE for disease or POSITIVE for traits you want like A2 or polled or whatever but the chance that you would buy a tested cow that tests positive for Staph A or A1/A1 or whatever is probably zero... And this is exactly why sellers don't test. Once they have decided to sell a healthy appearing cow there is almost no advantage to doing so. All that can happen from a sellers point of view is that they can uncover a 'problem' that was, up until a positive test, not a problem for them. Then when you do not take the animal they are then obligated to disclose that issue to all other potential buyers. I can see where it is much easier to just wait on a buyer who also does not care about testing a healthy appearing cow.
If someone has owned a cow and had drunk her milk and fed it to their own family without doing testing, I believe it is simply because they believe it is OK to do so. If you are asking that they go above what they care about for their own family to ensure that a cow is good enough for you to use to sell raw milk to the public... well... then you should cover the costs the tests to convert their family cow into a raw milk diary cow... And if the cow comes off a commercial dairy that pasteurizes milk you should cover the tests to make sure that the cow is fit to be part of a raw dairy herd, etc. Really I can't find a single scenario where it wouldn't be the buyers responsibility to pay for tests they require to be be able to use an animal in a certain way.
It is only because I care about the health of my herd, and not because of the wants of future buyers, that I test. But believe me the money I spend to keep a healthy herd is unapologetically reflected in the prices of my animals.
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