Operators of small dairy farms know they can control more of the profits in their raw-milk product by directly marketing the finished products to consumers. Key products that can be produced efficiently are milk, yogurt, soft and hard cheeses, ice cream and butter. Developing a niche market is vital to achieving success with an on-farm processing plant. Also important is deciding whether to pursue direct sales or utilize established, independent retail stores as a distribution channel. Dairy farmers that have met the organic requirements are one step further in having available markets open for their products.
Many supermarkets are readily available for organic milk, yogurt, butter, ice cream and cheeses.
U.S. dairy farmers realize what s occurring in Europe, Israel and other nations, and how dairy farmers are adding value to their milk via on-farm processing systems. Time will tell how many farmers will consider this opportunity and whether they can step out of the box and develop a local market. Dairy farmers who have large metropolitan markets near their farms possess an advantage in developing all kinds of ethnic products for these markets. Pursuing this avenue will require them to go off the farm or hire a marketing company to help them develop these markets. F armers have been limited in pursuing on-farm processing primarily because no companies were manufacturing pasteurizers, homogenizers and tanks small enough to meet the needs of this specialized market.