Increasing Rural Impact and Sustainability of Farmstead Soap Production

Farmstead soap adds value to goat milk, greatly exceeding gross returns on raw milk sold to creameries $21/100 weight) and specialty farmstead cheeses ($160/hundred weight equivalent). More than 60 3.5-ounce bars of soap, however, can be made from one gallon of milk. At $3 per bar of soap, 100 weight of milk generates more than $2,250 in gross income. Technical difficulties arise for traditional farm families who want to capture these value-added dollars by making and selling soap in quantity. Soap from 10 milking animals over 100 days' lactation exceeds 60,000 bars. The Phase I project will research and test feasibility of producing and selling high volumes of soap on a farm, profitably and sustainably. Working with a small-scale farmstead operation, Scotch Hill Farm In Brodhead, Wis., the project will: 1) research and test sales volumes possible from expanding existing and additional markets; 2) test levels of soap productions possible and identify all costs and investments necessary; and 3) set up a model for duplication in a Phase II proposal with other producers in a guild and cooperative statewide.