Post by farmschooler on Feb 22, 2007 12:54:53 GMT -5
RE: Swans Dairy in Oklahoma
I will make no profit off of sharing this information with you (except maybe making new friends - lol) but I think its good info to share, esp considering the prices some of you quoted you are paying for raw dairy. Support raw milk!
Here is the website for the dairy: www.tiawah.com/swandairy.htm
This is not an "official website". It was just something a happy customer put
up for them.
There is ZERO sales tax on food products sold off the farm in OK, so prices are what prices are if you shop at the farm. BUT, there would be sales tax on cheeses shipped out of state I imagine (dont know this for certain however)
THEY DO NOT SELL RAW MILK ANY OTHER WAY BUT DIRECTLY OFF THE FARM. But they do ship the cheeses and that is awesome too!!! As the matter of fact, storing milk in the form of cheese is a very traditional thing! Milk only keeps such a short time and we do have a need for dairy products when cows arnt milking. The family cow doesnt milk year round. They keep so many cows that they have SOME cows in milk at all times.
CHEESE VARIETIES & PRICES
Prices will vary according to "exact weight". Smoked cheeses only come in 1/2 lb pkgs
UNPasteurized Varieties = Colby, Sharp Cheddar & Mild Cheddar
Pasteurized Varieties = Colby, Sharp Cheddar, Mild Cheddar, Mozerella, Hot Pepper & Mild Hot Pepper
1/2 lb plain pkgs are $4.05/lb
1/2 lb smoked pkgs which are $4.60/lb
1 lb pkgs are $3.95/lb
2.5 lb pkgs are $3.75/lb
1/2 lb pkgs of curds are $4.05/lb and are pasteurized. They come in mild cheddar or hot pepper varieties
The dairy is located at 938 East 5th St., Claremore OK 74017, Phone: (918) 341-2298.
STORE HOURS: 8am to 6pm, M-St. Closed Sunday.
Their cows are Grass-fed on unsprayed pasture (no herbicides), no hormones. Raw milk cheese is available for shipment within continental US (call and have Visa or Mastercard available).
INTERESTING NOTE: I spoke with one of the employees yesterday when I went to pick up my weeks dairy. I asked if they ever sell their "older" cows, since I am shopping for a family milk cow. He told me they take them to a local auction when its time for them to go. Production does drop with age. I asked what was considered a normal production and how much of a drop indicated it was "time to go" and he said, "(They) sold a cow last year that was getting older....she had originally produced 14 gallons a day!" These are mostly Holsteins and they are huge! They keep 60-80 head...so they are selling or making cheese out of up to 800 gallons of milk per day. Yet still, the dairy feeds them nothing outside of a little grain, hay and free range native pasture. Twice a day they are walked thru an indoor (viewable behind glass windows) machine milking area and "hooked up" to milk. Im not sure they could be milked by hand very efficently. I cant imagine taking in 7 gallons in one milking - lol. Oh...most of theirs only yield 10 gallons a day though.
SUGGESTED READING
Keeping a Family Cow by Joann S. Grohman
Milk Book, The by William Campbell Douglass, MD
I will make no profit off of sharing this information with you (except maybe making new friends - lol) but I think its good info to share, esp considering the prices some of you quoted you are paying for raw dairy. Support raw milk!
Here is the website for the dairy: www.tiawah.com/swandairy.htm
This is not an "official website". It was just something a happy customer put
up for them.
There is ZERO sales tax on food products sold off the farm in OK, so prices are what prices are if you shop at the farm. BUT, there would be sales tax on cheeses shipped out of state I imagine (dont know this for certain however)
THEY DO NOT SELL RAW MILK ANY OTHER WAY BUT DIRECTLY OFF THE FARM. But they do ship the cheeses and that is awesome too!!! As the matter of fact, storing milk in the form of cheese is a very traditional thing! Milk only keeps such a short time and we do have a need for dairy products when cows arnt milking. The family cow doesnt milk year round. They keep so many cows that they have SOME cows in milk at all times.
CHEESE VARIETIES & PRICES
Prices will vary according to "exact weight". Smoked cheeses only come in 1/2 lb pkgs
UNPasteurized Varieties = Colby, Sharp Cheddar & Mild Cheddar
Pasteurized Varieties = Colby, Sharp Cheddar, Mild Cheddar, Mozerella, Hot Pepper & Mild Hot Pepper
1/2 lb plain pkgs are $4.05/lb
1/2 lb smoked pkgs which are $4.60/lb
1 lb pkgs are $3.95/lb
2.5 lb pkgs are $3.75/lb
1/2 lb pkgs of curds are $4.05/lb and are pasteurized. They come in mild cheddar or hot pepper varieties
The dairy is located at 938 East 5th St., Claremore OK 74017, Phone: (918) 341-2298.
STORE HOURS: 8am to 6pm, M-St. Closed Sunday.
Their cows are Grass-fed on unsprayed pasture (no herbicides), no hormones. Raw milk cheese is available for shipment within continental US (call and have Visa or Mastercard available).
INTERESTING NOTE: I spoke with one of the employees yesterday when I went to pick up my weeks dairy. I asked if they ever sell their "older" cows, since I am shopping for a family milk cow. He told me they take them to a local auction when its time for them to go. Production does drop with age. I asked what was considered a normal production and how much of a drop indicated it was "time to go" and he said, "(They) sold a cow last year that was getting older....she had originally produced 14 gallons a day!" These are mostly Holsteins and they are huge! They keep 60-80 head...so they are selling or making cheese out of up to 800 gallons of milk per day. Yet still, the dairy feeds them nothing outside of a little grain, hay and free range native pasture. Twice a day they are walked thru an indoor (viewable behind glass windows) machine milking area and "hooked up" to milk. Im not sure they could be milked by hand very efficently. I cant imagine taking in 7 gallons in one milking - lol. Oh...most of theirs only yield 10 gallons a day though.
SUGGESTED READING
Keeping a Family Cow by Joann S. Grohman
Milk Book, The by William Campbell Douglass, MD