A herdshare (a.k.a., cow condo) is a legal fiction created in an attempt to circumvent laws banning the sale of raw milk and laws preventing distribution of raw milk without proper licenses or food safety measures.  Under the fiction, the farmer does not “sell” raw milk, but “sells” a portion of the cow.  The theory – promoted by some – is that rules regarding sanitation, safety and distribution can be ignored because all e own the cow and therefore there is not sale and no rules apply.  It can have consequences as the young raw milk drinkers – and their families – in Oregon are painfully learning:

*HUS = hemolytic uremic syndrome, a cause of kidney failure; GBS = Guillain–Barré syndrome, a cause of paralysis.

And, just to be fair, here is a comparision chart:  Outbreaks from Foodborne Pathogens in Pasteurized Milk and Pasteurized Milk Cheeses, United States 1998-present.  Note, somewhere between 1% to 3% of people in the U.S. claim to drink raw milk.