Providing Raw Goat Milk in Lincoln, Nebraska
If you are seeking the many health benefits of raw goat milk, join us on our quest of holistic & sustainable dairy goat farming.
Raw Goat Milk Benefits
Raw goat milk is gaining traction among health enthusiasts, nutritionists, and everyday folks looking for natural remedies to common ailments.
It is a powerhouse of essential nutrients, including vitamins A, B, and C, which are crucial for maintaining good health, as well as minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium which play a significant role in bone health, heart health, and muscle function.
One of the standout features of goat milk is the fact that it’s easier to digest, especially for those with sensitive stomachs. If you’ve ever felt bloated after drinking standard cow’s milk from the grocery store, you may be surprised to find goat milk more gentle on your digestive system.
Raw goat milk also offers prebiotic benefits, promoting the growth of healthy gut bacteria. A healthy gut microbiome is crucial for digestion, nutrient absorption, and even mental health while enhancing your immune function, helping your body fend off illnesses.
Several of our customers have found relief of their allergies, eczema, skin issues, and gut issues.
Milking Season Timeline
Our milking season is approximately May to October each year (we do not milk year round).
We plan our breeding season to have the kids arrive as soon as March, but it’s really up to God & the goats on when they’ll actually land.
Our momma goats (dams) raise their own kids (we do not pull them from their mommas) so our official milk season begins after the kids are weaned.
Which Option Works Best For You?
2025 Herdshare Member:
Early & Late access each season
Our milk production is based on when our does kid, and weaning the kids off their mommas. As we begin ramping up production each year, there will be goats phasing into the milking operation so we are not at full capacity until 2-3 months after the last kid is born.
What this means for you is that we will ONLY be offering this early milk to you if you are a herdshare member.
Same is true for end of season access when our milk production slows.
Milk Volume: +/-
As a Herdshare member, you may receive MORE than your regular dividends at the beginning and/or end of the season as we’re ramping up and down from production.
Since we offer you early & late access (before and after any direct milk sales each season), if we have an abundance of milk over and above your share for any particular day, we will offer it to you when available.
On the flip side, there may also be days as we’re ramping up and winding down that you may receive slightly less than your share based on milk production.
In Town Drop Site
As a herdshare member you are entitled to raw milk as dividends of your membership. Since you are not paying for raw milk (you are paying for us to care and maintain your portion of the herd), we are able to deliver your milk legally.
For 2025 we are offering a drop site near 70th & Highway 2 for herdshare members as an option to pick up their milk on certain days without making the trek out to the farm.
Priority Milk
Our priority will always be to our Herdshare members. So if anything ever comes up on our end resulting in less milk being available for any particualr day, the milk will always default to our herdshare member, so you should never have to go without your milk during season.
Regular Weekly Pickup
As long as you remain a member in good standing, you will always have claim to your scheduled day’s milk.
If you will be out of town or unavailable, you may choose to forfeit that milk, arrange for someone else to pick it up on your behalf, or you can request us to freeze your milk for you to pick up at a later date.
Schedule Goat Visits + Herdshare Days
Do you love seeing and visiting with the animals? As a co-owner of the herd, we welcome you to schedule occasional visits to meet and interact with our momma & baby goats and see how they are doing.
We also typically have Annual Herdshare Days where we invite you to bring your friends/family to meet the goats and join us on a farm tour.
Monthly Boarding Fees - No Contract
In addition to the $25 one-time buy in fee per share, 2025 Herdshare members will also be responsible for paying a monthly boarding fee. This fee covers the monthly feed and care of each member’s share of the goat flock.
Each share entitles you to a percentage of milk from the herd, per week. Typically, one share evens out to about a half-gallon a week of delicious, creamy milk from our goat herd.
Your Herdshare Membership with us runs on a month-to-month basis, generally during the months of May-October (based on milk production season).
You are also free to cancel at any point in time with appropriate notice, but keep in mind that your herdshare buy-in fee is non-refundable, even upon cancellation.
Raw Goat Milk Direct Sales:
Recurring vs Non-Recurring
Outside of our Herdshare members, this is the Priority for our direct milk customers:
- Weekly Recurring (20% discount)
- Non-Recurring
After our Herdshare is filled each year, we will then schedule in our Weekly Recurring customers.
Once those customers are arranged, if there are any other open spaces for the milk season, we will open our milk availability calendar to All Customers.
Please Note: there may or may not be mid-season recurring slots available at any point in time
Farm Pickup Only
Per Nebraska law, all raw goat milk MUST be picked up at the farm so deliveries are not available.
Our farm is located north of W Denton Road, between SW 40th and SW 56th street (approx 7-8 minutes from the U-Stop on Highway 77 & Denton Road).
Once you claim a day for pickup, you will be provided our pickup address.
Prepay with Venmo
3 days before your pickup, you will receive an email request for payment. You may pre-pay via Venmo @pennerminifarms or you may pay exact cash upon pickup.
Please Note: due to the nature of handling fresh raw goat milk which has an expiration date, no call/no shows will not be tolerated and will not be permitted to order in the future.
As small family farmers with full time jobs at our local church, there is little to no wiggle room during our milking season between a 5am wake up call, milking, washing & sanitizing milk equipment, morning chores, preparing for the work day, commuting to work, working 8 hours, commuting back to the farm, evening chores, seasonal projects and farm maintenance, quick supper at 9pm, then hopefully getting to bed by 11pm. That is not accounting for any outside engagements and/or errands. Even writing that out makes me need a nap!
You can be assured we will do our part to respect your time by being ready and available for your milk pickup appointment, and we simply ask the same from you.
Quick & Efficient Pickups
We know that you are busy, and you now know how busy we are during milking season as well – so our goal for Direct Milk pickups is that you can be in and out of the farm in minutes!
Due to the nature of our daily work load, we are not available to take you around the farm most days, but may occasionally open up some farm visit days for our raw milk customers to bring your family in order to meet & greet the herd that is providing your nourishing milk!
Private Newsletter
As a direct milk customer, you will receive our private raw milk newsletter giving you tips and tricks on how to clean and maintain your glass mason jars, recipes to try with your raw goat milk, and of course, invites to join us for farm day visits!
Interested in our Herdshare?
Interested in Raw Milk Direct?
Keep reading for pricing and more information!
What's the cost for Herdshare vs Direct Milk?
2025 Herdshare Member:
2025 Dues & Fees
Each new season we re-evaluate dues and fees based on the prior season and any necessary change are made.
At that point, we communicate to our Herdshare Waitlist on any changes prior to the season opening.
For 2025, the schedule of dues is as follows:
- $25 buy-in fee per share (one time per year, non-refundable)
- Boarding Fees, due by the 5th each month:
- $40/month (1 share, approx Half Gallon)
- $65/month (2 shares, approx 1 Gallon)
2025 Update
Included in your 2025 dues will be 2 – Half Gallon Mason Jars per share, for you to easily swap an unused one for your new milk each week and make the pickup process faster for you.
If you fail to bring your extra jar at pickup any given week, you may drop it off at the farm or our in town drop site on a pre-communicated day.
Otherwise, if we do not receive your jar by the day before your next scheduled pickup, you will incur and additional $5 fee for a new jar, due at pickup.
Raw Goat Milk Direct Sales:
2025 Fees
We are keeping it simple for our 2025 season for Direct Milk customers.
For 2025, Direct Milk pricing is as follows:
- $10 per half gallon
- 20% discount for weekly recurring
- Bring your own jar/container or you may purchase one of the following:
- $5 – Half Gallon Mason Jar
- $3 – Food Grade Beverage Bag
2025 Additional Info
- We will not be offering a gallon discount this year; if you would like 1 gallon, you will have to purchse 2 half gallons
- We will not be offering quarts this year; half gallon will be our only portion size for direct milk sales
Meet Some of Your Dairy Goats!
Daisy
Daisy is a full size registered LaMancha goat, who is the perfect combination of sweet/ornery (ok, maybe a little too ornery sometimes!).
She is a great milker and very well behaved on the milk stand.
Merci
Merci is a full size registered LaMancha goat, with Sundgau coloring. She kidded twin does in 2024 who are carbon copies of her and we decided to retain both (Ginger and Cinnamon) to be the future of our raw goat milk operation.
She is always very calm and gentle and also does really well on the milk stand.
Cookie
Cookie is a registered Nigerian Dwarf goat, who is by far the best behaved mini we’ve got (most days…).
In 2024, we retained Frosty from Cookie (both pictured above) so she’ll be an up and comer in 2025 for NDG milk as well!
Penelope
Penelope is a registered Nigerian Dwarf goat, who is the wildcard at the milk stand. Sometimes she’s perfectly well behaved, other times she’s screaming like a banshee when she things she needs more oats.
In 2024, Penleope had twin bucks and we decided to retain Vegas to hold back another blue eyed buck option for our Buck Lease Service when he’s ready.
Sweet Pea
Oh Sweet Pea. She is also a registered Nigerian Dwarf goat, who loves 99% of the people she meets at first sight.
In 2024, Sweet Pea had triplets which included one carbon copy doe that we decided to retain as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is a Herdshare?
It’s just that.. we share our herd with you!
Our Herdshare follows the CSA model (Community Supported Agriculture) – it is a mutual commitment and partnership between farmer and consumer.
We as farmers bring the experience and labor needed to raise a farm product (dairy goats and their raw goat milk) and the financial support from our members allows our small farm to operate in an economically stable manner.
This allows Penner Mini Farms to remain small and our members to receive fresh, local foods that are produced by people they know and trust.
Should I become a Herdshare member or purchase Raw Milk Direct?
This is a great question!
It’s really up to what you’re looking for.
Do you already know that you love the taste and health benefits of raw goat milk, or are you just dipping your toes in to try it?
Would you like to create and build a lasting relationship with us as farmers of goats that you co-own, or does that not really seem like something you’d be interested in?
Are you willing to undertake the responsibility of a monthly committment of boarding fees – even if you’re out of town and have to skip a week on occasion?
Based on your answers above, you may be interested in a Herdshare or just simply being a direct milk customer.
Note: Herdshare membership has limited openings available for each season, so if you’re interested be sure to join the waitlist for an opportunity to join us this year or next!
Why do you have 2 different breeds of dairy goats?
Well, we love them both and they each bring something special to the farm!
But if we’re asking “milk-wise”, LaManchas give more milk, but the Nigerian Dwarfs give sweeter milk.
What the Nigerians lack in quantity, they more than make up for in taste, due to their high percentage of butterfat in milk (which is the HIGHEST of all goats, by the way!).
So, we like both so that we can get a mix of both benefits 🙂
What do you feed your goats?
We grow our own hay at Penner Mini Farms. It’s a mixture of grass hay and legumes and our goats love it!
Our home grown hay is actually all that we feed all of our males (bucks and wethers) for their entire life, at least after they’ve been weaned
Mama’s + Kids
While lactating and throughout nursing/milking, our does and kids are supplemented with whole oats, alfalfa hay, alfalfa pellets, and occasionally grain in order to increase their protein/calcium intake during this time.
Do you sell raw milk for dogs or pets?
Actually, we do!
Occasionally we will have some extra milk that we may choose to freeze in quarts and those become available as non-fresh, not for human consumption, raw milk for dogs or any other pets for health purposes.
Pricing: $3/quart*
*while supplies last
Do you name any of your goats?
YES!
We love every single one of our goats, and every time we get a new baby goat or even if we pick up a goat from a fellow farmer – we ALWAYS give them a name because they are now part of Penner Mini Farms (no matter if it’s a temporary stay or a permanent one)!
Jeffrey and I both know every single goat by name, and we’re pretty sure after a little while they learn their own names as well 🥰
Still have questions?
Please reach out on the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
Still have questions about Raw Goat Milk?
Let us know and we can try to answer them!
