You Don't Have to Drink It Raw to Save a Dairy

Most of the argument about raw milk stops at health. That's not the only reason to buy it.

Here's the other reason: the dairy itself.

Our milk comes from the Kemp family's certified organic dairy in Milroy, Indiana. Small herd of Jersey cows, on pasture, 100% grass-fed. One day, with very little notice, the milk truck stopped coming to their farm. The company they had supplied for years decided the farm was too small and too far out of the way to justify the stop. The milk hadn't changed. The math had.

Fewer farms, more milk

That math is running against small dairies everywhere. The United States had 45,344 licensed dairy herds in 2014. By 2024, there were 24,811. That's 20,533 herds gone in ten years, down 45 percent, while total milk production went up. We did not stop producing milk. We moved it onto fewer and much larger farms.

Indiana is no exception. The state had about 1,425 licensed Grade A herds in 2013. By 2024, it had 685. Farms with fewer than 50 cows make up about 70 percent of Indiana dairy farms but produce about 17 percent of the milk. Farms with 1,000 cows or more are about 1.4 percent of farms and produce about 57 percent.

When a small dairy loses its customers, it doesn't get smaller. It closes. And when it closes, the herd, the pasture knowledge, and the local market go with it.

So here is the part that gets missed: you don't have to drink the milk raw to keep that dairy in business.

Buying it regularly is what keeps the farm viable. What you do with it in your own kitchen is up to you.

You'll notice the jug says "Not For Human Consumption." That's Indiana law, not the farm's choice. Indiana doesn't allow raw milk to be sold for people to drink, so it's sold under a pet food license and labeled that way. What you do with it in your own kitchen is your call.

How to pasteurize milk at home

If unpasteurized milk worries you, pasteurizing it at home is simple. You don't boil the milk. You heat it gently and hold it at temperature. Here is how:

1. Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Check the temperature often with an instant-read thermometer — no special equipment needed.

2. Heat slowly, stirring constantly so the milk heats evenly and doesn't scorch. Bring it to 145 degrees and hold it there for 30 minutes. Or bring it to 161 degrees and hold it for 15 seconds. Either one works.

3. If the temperature drops below 145 degrees during the 30-minute hold, bring it back up and restart the 30 minutes.

4. Cool it fast. Set the pan in a sink of ice water and keep stirring until the milk is 40 degrees or below. Fast cooling matters as much as the heating.

5. Pour it into clean half-gallon or quart mason jars, cap them, and refrigerate at 40 degrees or below. Use it within the week.

That's it. The milk never boils.

Pasteurized at home or poured straight from the jug, the milk comes from the same cows on the same farm. And the farm stays a farm because people keep buying from it.