Summary of Goat Milk Share Terms



Buying into a herd share is much like joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). While you are investing in your local farmers endeavors’ it does not guarantee that it will be a successful year for the crop and each customer will get a percentage of what is produced from a CSA.  This is similar to how the State of Colorado makes herd shares legal – you may only drink raw milk from animals that you own. You are essentially buying a part of the goat herd, we are raising it for you and sharing in the cost of caring for your goat, I.E.  Vaccinations, hay, grain, pregnancy tests, purchase price of the animal, husbandry, registration of the goat, breeding fees, housing costs etc…   We will do our best to minimize any lack of supply as we grow; sometimes Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate in this business.


Please initial if you agree - this is an addendum and summary to our current contract highlighting the bullet points for clarification. 


______  We will refund your herd share purchase fee pending the pickup of the remaining jars and coolers if you should you choose to leave the herd share at any time.  With no return of the supplies and/or 30 days notice of cancellation, the share purchase fee will be forfeited.  You can rejoin at a later date; however it may take a while as we do have a waiting list.

______   The contracted maintenance/boarding fee is per month even during dry periods or times such as customers’ vacations where delivery is put on hold.  This is because you are not “buying” milk; legally you are boarding your share of the goats with us. Maintaining monthly payments assures you continue to receive your share of the herds’ production when the does kid and milk production returns.  To assure the safety of our animal’s health they have to be dried off 2 months prior to giving birth and the baby needs the colostrum from the mother for the first two weeks after birth.  Please keep in mind that there are four months out of the year that have not 4, but 5 delivery weeks. This essentially “extra” milk each of those months equals any extra month of milk throughout the year.  Please keep this in mind in preparing for the “dry” or lower volume milk months. You can freeze this for your use at a later time if you would like.  We will do our best to minimize the reduced amount of milk being delivered by trying to stagger breeding dates but again we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.  This situation may not happen but please understand that it may occur.

______   For each share you purchase, you agree to maintain your share of the herd by providing the monthly maintenance fee. If you need more milk, you may purchase extra shares if they are available. If you need less milk, you may sell back to the farm the shares you do not need as long as we receive 30 days notice. Keep in mind, shares may not be available if you want to increase your milk amount at a later time.

______  We ask that you please run the empty milk jars through your dishwasher prior to pick up.  Rinse in the sink with lukewarm water before the dishwasher. Hot water on milk residues in the jars will “cook” the milk proteins onto the jar surface. If unwashed, empty jars that remain dirty develop a rancid smell and we have to use a milk stone cleaner to renew the jars to a clean and safe quality.

______  We deliver on Wednesdays, usually after taking care of the animals morning cleaning and feeding chores.  We are on the road by 10:30am weather permitting.  If we can’t make it due to inclement weather we will send out a mass email and deliver when the roads permit. Due to time constraints we are unable to meet at certain times and ask for notice by email or phone if you don’t wish to have a delivery on that day.  Please leave your cooler on your doorstep with the old jars and ice bottles and we will replace them with full bottles and new ice packs. We will provide an initial cooler, jars and ice bottles.  If you wish to provide your own cooler it would be much appreciated.  Our truck has been packed full of coolers and we are looking to minimize them for more room.

______ Please make payment by check or cash on the first of the month to pay for the upcoming month in advance.  You can leave payment in the return cooler or mail payment to 2632 Bar 10rd, Calhan Co. 80808 with checks made out to Diana Ford. New customers will be pro-rated for the time of month of first delivery. If you request eggs you can pay in advance or at the end of the month for the quantity received for that month.

______  We reserve the right to cancel contracts at any time.  We will give 30 days notice of dry period. Prices are subject to change with 30 days notice and we will give you the reason that is usually out of our hands such as gas prices, hay shortages causing high feed costs etc… We don’t like our bills going up so we will do everything to keep prices steady.  We want happy customers. 


Thank you for choosing Li’l Bit Farms to be your local farmer and taking the time to review this addendum.  We are trying to provide the best quality service and we want to address these issues as we are learning how to improve our business.  We hope to do the best we can for our customers and our animals.  Should you have any questions or even suggestions we are always open to the concerns of our friends.  Again, thank you so much for your understanding of this document and the improvements we wish to make

             
 Sincerely,   Ken and Diana.                     Signature  _______________________   Date___________