The Rural Voice, 1994-10, Page 24Going smaller in dairy
Some dairy farmers are giving up their cattle in
favour of milking goats and tapping a growing
market for fluid milk and cheese
By Bob Reid
Dairy goat farmer Lynn Reesor
said goad make her laugh. It
is the way they play with each
other, jump off the walls and look
quizzically at you like they were
about to ask a very important
question. Currently they are also
making a living for her and husband
Harry as the couple milk 60 Saancn
and Alpine goats on their 100 -acre
faun just north of Listowel.
The Reesors, who previously
milked 37 cows on the property after
moving there 15 years ago, made the
switch to goats in 1989. Their story
is typical of young and the young -at -
heart farm couples who arc creating a
growing interest in a part of farming
for the most part overlooked. While
perhaps not having the glamour of the
pedigree cattle business or the
promise of exponential returns in
raising emus or ostriches, it is
collecting interest among those
interested in making a living farming
on smaller acreages.
The Reesors had sold their milk
quota when the price was good and
eliminated some debt, then began
raising a few goats for meat. As the
number of goats increased they began
milking them in a parlour designed
and built by Recsor, feeding the milk
to veal calves. To reduce the number
of stcps between milk and market
they started shipping to Hewitt's
Dairy in Hagersville which sells fluid
milk, yogurt and ice cream. Most of
their milk, picked up at the farm in a
tank truck once per week, now goes
to Woolwich Dairy near Guelph,
internationally known for its goat
milk cheese.
The Reesors are optimistic about
milking goats because of the growing
demand for the milk and cheese.
Goats milk, which is naturally
homogenized with the cream not
separating from the skim milk, is
often sold in health food stores. It is
more expensive than cow's milk,
retailing for around $2.60 per litre.
The teasing about the animals
and their idiosyncrasies,
sometimes encountered by goat
farmers, did bother Reesor at first,
she admitted. "People thought we
fed them tin cans." That soon faded
as her interest in the animals grew
and she discovered how easy they are
to work with.
Although both declined to make
direct comparisons between milking
cows versus milking goats, they
agreed goats definitely have more
personality. They grab playfully at
pant legs and "just won't leave you
alone," said Reesor. But for Reesor
that has a down side as she finds it
hard to part with young goats in the
herd that are sold for the meat trade.
Many Portuguese buyers prefer
killing the animals right on the farm,
something she will not allow.
Reesor continues to milk cows by
offering his services as a replacement
milker on local farms to supplement
!tarry Reesor: optimistic about
growing demand.
20 THE RURAL VOICE