The Rural Voice, 1998-08, Page 34Bob and Linda Reid stand with
their kids in front of the new milk house
they built on their farm in Shakespeare.
Dairy goats and the
marketplace
You don't have to go to the health food
store to find goats milk any more. Now you
can find goat yogurt, milk, ice cream and
cheese at some local supermarkets.
Producers are scrambling to keep up with
the increased demand.
Story and photos by Allison Lawlor
Goats are just like kids.
Playing, bumping and
chewing everything they get a
hold of. Said to have personalities of
their own, goats are something you
either love or hate.
Bob and Linda Reid of
Shakespeare are goat lovers—
especially now that they don't have
to milk their own by hand.
The Rcids are having a better year
in 1998. But then anything could be
an improvement over last year when
30 THE RURAL VOICE
The Reid's herd of Saanens and Toggenburgs is growing.
every morning and night they milked
35 goats by hand.
"It was the summer from hell,"
said Bob.
"I was getting tendinitis in my
hands," added Linda.
It all started three years ago when
the Reids bought 24 registered
Toggenburg goats. The plan was to
slowly increase the number of does
to 100 and ship milk. Their plans
changed when a year later the does
started kidding, the herd increased
and a local buyer from Kitchener saw
their sign advertising goat's milk. He
approached them and asked if they
would ship their milk to his plant
where he makes cheese.
The Reids agreed, not realizing
how difficult it would be to keep up
with the demands of milking 35 goats
without the aid of an automated
milking system. They managed to
survive but put in long hours. Since
then they have been shipping all of
their milk to the same buyer in