BusinessWeek.com has a vivid little story – dated Monday – featuring a young family making a go of a small raw milk goat farm in Michigan. The story chronicles a typical day in the lives of the Klaty brood – Farmgirl mom Tamra, dad Robb and their five children – at their Simple Times Farm in Grand Blanc. [You can check out their blog detailing their religiousness and lifestyle (including their sawdust toilet) at http://klaty.com/.]
The Klatys started out boarding horses, but more recently got into the raw milk business, distributing unpasteurized milk to 50 leaseholders. Part of Business Week’s interest is in the problem the Klatys face with expansion of their growing farm…a near impossibility considering their land is constrained by a housing development and a golf course. [BizWeek also reported on raw milk in 2006.]
The family doesn’t gross enough from their farming operations for Robb to give up his lawn care business. The magazine quotes Katherine Ozer, executive director of the National Family Farm Coalition, says most family farms rely on one or more family members to work outside the farm.
Virtual Farmgirl 