Knowing the value of your milk, can help you value the products you make from your milk. Here is one person’s breakdown.
There is a wide range of raw milk dairy prices across the board, but how do you know your prices make sense based off a gallon of milk?
Here is a simple breakdown on price setting costs!
Starting point:
Milk value $15/gallon = $7.50/half gallon = $3.75/quart = ~$0.94/cup.
This is your base price to compare against, you can enter any value and adjust accordingly.
Pricing based on your $15/gal milk:
• Butter: $20–$25/lb
• Buttermilk: $5–$6/qt
• Cream: $12–$15/pint
• Yogurt: $5–$6/qt
• Fresh Cheese: $15–$20/lb
• Aged Cheese: $50–$80/lb
- Butter
• 1 gallon of milk = ~2 cups cream.
• 2 cups cream → ~¾ lb butter + 1 cup buttermilk.
• That means ~1 lb butter takes about 2.5–3 gallons of milk.
• If 1 gallon milk = $15, then just the milk input for 1 lb butter = $37–$45.
🧀Suggested price: $20–$25 per pound (raw, small-batch butter often runs $20–$30/lb at farmstands). - Buttermilk
• Byproduct of butter.
• Costs are “covered” by the butter pricing, so you can sell it lower.
🧀Suggested price: $5–$6 per quart. - Cream
• A gallon of milk gives ~1 pint of cream, varies with breed/feed/individual cow.
• That pint of cream “costs” the $15 you could have gotten for selling the whole gallon.
🧀Suggested price: $12–$15 per pint raw cream is a premium item and can be scarce. - Yogurt
• 1 gallon milk makes ~1 gallon yogurt.
• Plus starter and incubation, but not much shrinkage.
🧀Suggested price: $15–$18 per gallon, or $5–$6 per quart, slightly higher than milk since it’s value-added. - Cheeses
• Yields vary a lot:
• Fresh cheeses, chevre, queso fresco, paneer: ~1 lb cheese per gallon milk.
• Aged/harder cheeses: ~1 lb cheese per 10 gallons milk.
🧀Suggested pricing:
• Fresh cheese: $15–$20/lb.
• Aged cheese: $50–$80/lb since the yield is tiny and aging takes space/labor.
As always, know your state regulations for dairy.
Know your farmer.
Shop local.
Barter when you can!
