There is so much to learn about raising your own milk at home! I’ve amassed a list of some of the most essential home dairy books by category for those interested in keeping a home milk cow. Sort the table by category to see the ones listed in the content. Comment below with the books YOUR family can’t live without!

Category	Book Link	Title	Author	Description
Dairy Diseases and Disorders		Holistic Goat Care: A Comprehensive Guide to Raising Healthy Animals, Preventing Common Ailments, and Troubleshooting Problems	Giancalis Caldwell
Fencing and Pasture Management		Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture	Gabe Brown	This family are my heroes! This book covers the critical importance of nurturing first soil health on the land that is producing our food as we navigate with the Brown family their journey from a failed traditional farm to a thriving business built on innovative (and simultaneously ancient) farming traditions.
The Home Creamery - Putting Your Dairy Bounty To Work		The Art of Natural Cheesemaking: Using Traditional, Non-Industrial Methods and Raw Ingredients to Make the World's Best Cheeses	David Asher	My copy of Mr. Asher’s book is dog-eared, stained and well-loved. His approach to cheese making focuses on old-world methods, raw ingredients and he uses kefir as the starter culture in most of his recipes. A man after my own heart!
Homestead Inspiration		The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It	John Seymour	There is an newer print of this book. The old one is better. I debated whether to put this on on the list at all but I have a sentimental attachment to it. It was one of my first homestead "dreaming" books and the illustrations are wonderfully inspiring. I think there is some dried drool on almost every page of my copy....
The Health Benefits of Untreated Milk		The Raw Milk Answer Book: What You REALLY Need to Know About Our Most Controversial Food	David Gumpert	This is about as objective a look at the controversial subject as you are likely to find and he deals with some of the wilder claims on both sides in a manner that focuses on the actual data available.
Dairy Diseases and Disorders		The Barn Guide to Treating Dairy Cows Naturally: Practical Organic Cow Care for Farmers	Dr. Hubert Karreman
Dairy Diseases and Disorders		Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals	Paul Dettloff
Dairy Diseases and Disorders		Treating Dairy Cows Naturally: Thoughts & Strategies	Huber Karreman
Fencing and Pasture Management		Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth	Judith D. Schwartz
Fencing and Pasture Management		For the Love of Land: Global Case Studies of Grazing in Nature's Image	Jim Howell
Fencing and Pasture Management		The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming (New York Review Books Classics)	Masanobu FukuokaMasanobu Fukuoka
Homestead Inspiration		Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre	Brett L. Markham	When I lived on smaller lots we were moving far too often to gain any benefit from these ideas but for someone who is going to be living in town for a while, these are the practical steps to take to make your tiny lot work with you.
Homestead Inspiration		The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach	Ben Falk	Ben has a unique perspective on the relationship with the land. I like his "500 year view" for the land. Even on our current homestead we aren't yet in this mode but I love the ideas.
Homestead Inspiration		The Biodynamic Farm: Developing a Holistic Organism	Karl-Ernst Osthaus	Published in 2004 in German this very short and interesting work runs with the ideas of Rudolf Steiner from a century ago regarding the links between all the life forms on the farm and the nutrient value of the food grown on farm. It goes a little too much for my taste in the supra-natural and linking farming practices to the ether and cosmos but the book covers several interesting topics from a perspective that resonates with someone who is concerned about the quality of the food our culture is producing and consuming.
Keeping a Family Cow		Keeping a Family Cow	Joann S. Grohman	This book gets its own category as it is deservedly the go-to book for anyone interested in keeping a family cow and most of what Ms. Grohman says is also applicable to other dairy animals.
The Health Benefits of Untreated Milk		The Untold Story of Milk, Revised and Updated: The History, Politics and Science of Nature's Perfect Food: Raw Milk from Pasture-Fed Cows	Ron Schmid	This book has an agenda, but some of the backstory and history of modern big-dairy is page-turning.
The Health Benefits of Untreated Milk		Devil in the Milk: Illness, Health and the Politics of A1 and A2 Milk	Kieth Woodford	This book, like THe Health Benefits ... by Ron Schmid is also a little on the biased side, but is a great introduction to what studies have been completed on the A1 / A2 issue. The cost to determine A2 status is negligible and involves pulling a few hairs from the cow's tail. The issue is then quite simple for a home producer to avoid altogether by simply selecting or breeding for A2/A2 genetics.
The Home Creamery - Putting Your Dairy Bounty To Work		Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide for Home-Scale and Market Producers	Gianaclis Caldwel	The go-to book for those interested in the scientific, sterile, known-culture approach to cheese making which is likely to produce the most repeatable and consistent cheeses.

Keeping a Family Cow

The Home Creamery – Putting the Dairy Bounty to Work

The Health Benefits of Untreated Milk

Fencing and Pasture Management

Dairy Diseases and Disorders

Homestead Inspiration