Aside from the inherently interesting story of the Klaty family’s full-scale involvement in their Michigan goat farm, which I just wrote for BusinessWeek.com (along with a slide show), there was something unusual about the story I didn’t really appreciate right away. I didn’t quite get it until I re-read the article today, and realized how much I discussed raw milk…as just a regular farm product.
No politics, no government propaganda, no secret rendezvous, no shareholders hiding their identities. Just a farm family producing a product and leaseholders consuming it, as a regular part of the day.
Yes, I did mention Robb Klaty’s concerns about possible interference from the Michigan Department of Agriculture, but this was more in the context of a business risk—much like worries about a possible drought or feed prices rising, than anything really happening.
Indeed, Robb Klaty decided to get into the business of producing raw goat’s milk in part because he saw it as a good business decision. He likes to be in a business where demand is strong, and getting stronger. His thinking is in the spirit of my most recent posting about the intersection of farming and business planning.
Treating the subject this way feels so much better than the way I’ve been forced to write about it over the past six months—as a political hot potato.
Robb Klaty understands well that he could at any time be turned into a test case for why a businessman shouldn’t get involved in producing raw milk. But for now, I’m content to appreciate the ordinariness of the situation.
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