Raw Milk Producer and Family Farm in Crisis
Donation protected
Keely Farms Dairy has produced and sold raw milk livestock feed in Central Florida for 11 years. We take care of our cows, our customers, our employees, and our community.
We are a transparent, small farm and a woman-owned business. We provide good jobs to members of our community and are proud that 50% of our employees are veterans and 75% are seniors. We employ people with disabilities and service dogs.
Our farm has helped many other farms and homesteads starting out. We provide education on caring for family cows. We share recipes and resources. Our passion for dairy cattle and small farms has been passed on to many through these services.
Our farm journey has been a service project and a labor of love. We have never been profitable and have incurred massive debt keeping the farm open over the years. We have subsidized the farm because it is what we love and how we want to raise our children.
We love our cows and the other animals here on our farm sanctuary. Every cow has a name and is a beloved member of our farm family. We do not sell our cows for beef, and we do not send our calves into the veal industry. Our special miniature Jersey cattle find loving homes on farm estates. The neutered males make adorable pets and living lawnmowers. And our retiring milkers find family homesteads to provide with their own milk supply.
There are non dairy animals on the farm as well. We provide homes for retired or rescued horses. We have saved everything from aged-out carriage horses to crippled camp mules and kill pen rescues. We are a rescue partner of multiple humane societies and animal rescues in the area. We serve as an overflow for their unadoptable and often feral cats. These cats would otherwise be euthanized. We take in dozens of cats a year. We have older "special needs" sheep who were removed from a production flock because of the extra care they require. These animals have a home here for life.
Keely Farms Dairy has never been political. We just milk our cows, provide livestock feed, and serve as upstanding members of our community. But we are being attacked by the news media after being "linked" by the Florida Department of Health to an "outbreak" of two different bacteria spanning 8 months' time without any notification of an investigation or proof of an issue. The farm is being sued as a result of this press release.
The Florida Department of Health has not shut down Keely Farms Dairy. And the Department of Agriculture had recently visited the farm and inspected and reapproved the farm's labels. We continue to sell raw milk as livestock feed. It is legally licensed and labeled "not for human consumption" under state law, and is not sold for human consumption.
But regardless, we are being tried in the court of public opinion. Some of our stores and customers have "paused" their deliveries. Reporters flood our phones and social media pages, harass our customers, and show up at the farm in person hunting a story and disturbing employees' work and the farm's peace.
This has been devastating for the farm. It has affected farm sales and left us heartbroken and struggling to pay the bills. We want to continue providing a service to our community. We need to be able to afford to feed our beloved animals and pay the employees who care for them.
Organizer
Keely Exum
Organizer
New Smyrna Beach, FL