Ohio Department of Agriculture Dairy Division

Video detailing the duties of a Milk Hauler, Weigher or Sampler

Consumers depend on Ohio's dairy industry for wholesome dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, ice cream and other frozen desserts.  The Dairy Division strives to assure Ohioans are provided with a safe and wholesome supply of dairy products produced and processed in Ohio.

Regulations governing the dairy industry meet or exceed the standards set by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and the United States Department of Agriculture.  Continued diligence at all stages - farm milk production, processing, distribution of milk and milk products - is paramount to maintaining food safety.  Laboratory evaluations are continually performed to detect the presence of harmful levels of bacteria, coliform, antibiotics, added water and foreign substances.  Somatic cell counts, vitamin content and butterfat percentages are also measured.

The 2009 year brought about many new advances in engineering, animal nutrition, herd and dairy plant management, genetics and animal care, all contributing to an adequate and safe supply of milk and dairy products for consumers in Ohio, the nation and other countries. These factors contributed to increasing the Ohio milk supply by 45 million pounds with a reduction of 3,000 cows in the state’s herd size. Five direct-load farms are in operation in Ohio. One automatic milking system (robotic) is operating and one more is in the initial installation process. The farm and plant sanitarians are extremely busy, monitoring and inspecting operations that produced and processed a record 5.175 billion pounds of milk.

Additional farmstead and artisan processors were licensed as a means to supplement reduced revenues during a period of historically low raw milk prices. Currently, 18 on-farm operations are producing varieties of cheeses while meeting the same standards that are required by larger commercial businesses. Most of the new ventures are cow dairies, but goat dairies are steadily increasing. Dairy Sanitarians work closely with the Ohio State University Agricultural Extension Service at their cheese making classes held several times each year around Ohio. At the classes, potential processors are briefed on the laws and rules that must be met to qualify for a processor license issued by the Ohio Department of Agriculture. There are two Grade A facilities that are bottling and retailing fluid milk from their farm locations to stores in their communities, throughout Ohio and to other states.

Special Notices

Application Fees:
If you are sending an application, please submit plans and license fees at the same time.

Salmonella Prevention: According to Dairy Herd Management, even after 48 hours after being washed off with a hose, some boots still gave positive cultures for salmonella. Make sure the people who come onto your dairy have clean boots.