Customers line up with their insulated tote bags to get fresh dairy milk, yogurt, ice cream, butter and other products from Nice Farms Creamery. There’s a constant flow of people traffic in line; the demand is high and it’s just a few minutes and the sales were flying.
The demand isn’t the problem from Bob Miller. Instead, it’s the government.
“Regulation. It’s onerous,” he said. “They treat our dairy farm like it’s a huge operation and it’s not. This [farm] is a pasture-based system,” he added.
Miller, 37, explained what gives him gray hair: Costs. He said the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene – Division of Milk Control, which issues a milk processor license and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are very cumbersome.
“I get the one-two punch. It’s a kick in the gut. They [government] try to shut you down.”
This 200-acre family farm is near Denton, MD. Miller, who started his business in 2009, has his own dairy herd of 44 cows and 75 animals in total. His father-in-law takes care of 22 acres for beef livestock (for beef patties). His family has been in the dairying business in Maryland since 1989 and goes back to New Jersey before 1989.
What keeps him going? The customers. There’s about 150 of them on weekends at the Anne Arundel County Farmer’s Market.
“These wonderful people keep me going on for 13 years now. They appreciate what we’re doing. Going against the mainstream dairy,” he said.
Nice Farms Creamery dairy products can be found in Chestertown, MD, Lewis, Delaware, Chesapeake’s Bounty in St. Leonard, MD, and Whole Note Coffee in Easton, MD, and Ocean City Organics.
