Early morning sunlight floods a West Valley barn, where a disco ball hangs from the ceiling and casts glinting reflections on 110 goats that wait in a metal pen. The animals nudge their way into a line leading to a row of milking stands and stare impatiently at their owner through the gate like it’s opening day at an amusement park and she’s the ticket master.
Rhonda Crow lets the first six of “her girls” out, gently guiding them into their slots. Their heads hang over tubs of feed, which they nibble on while she works. She dry-wipes each one’s udder, attaches two long, cylinder-shaped cups to their teats and waits as milk is vacuumed through hoses into metal collection tins.
About a month ago, it might have been Crow’s morning routine to collect some milk and have it with her cereal for breakfast. Now, the milk she’s collecting will be sold to anyone looking for the natural dairy beverage, straight from the animal. The milk, best known as raw milk, is legal for sale in some form in only 32 states, including Arizona.
Rhonda and her husband, Wendell, owners of Crow’s Dairy in Buckeye, began selling the raw milk in late June after receiving frequent inquiries from potential customers.
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