The Rural Voice, 1998-08, Page 37constantly moving through the barn
in a circular motion pushing out stale
air and preventing germs from
lingering around.
Before being allowed to sell
Grade A goat milk, farmers must
pass an OMAFRA on-farm
inspection. The milk is then graded
on its flavour and smell by a certified
grader at the farm.
Rena Hubers, manager of the raw
milk quality program at OMAFRA
said the standards for goat milk are
essentially the same as those for cow
milk. While annual routine
inspections are done on cow farms
they haven't been done on goat farms
since the cutbacks in the ministry.
Hubers said she is looking into
starting them again.
"The ministry recognizes that the
biggest selling point of goat's milk is
the health benefits," said Hubers.
"We have to make sure it is a better,
healthier product with good bacteria
counts and it is."
Producer's milk is routinely tested
at the OMAFRA lab in Guelph. The
two most important tests done on the
milk are the Plate Loop Test to
determine whether the milk has less
than 100,000 bacteria per millilitre
and the Somatic Cell Count, to make
sure the milk has less than 500,000
cells per millilitre.
"The challenge is to make sure
we have samples from every
producer and to get those samples
quickly into the lab," said Hubers.
"With goat milk it is only picked up
from the producer once a week so by
the time we test it some of it is over a
week old."
With the increased interest in the
goat milk production, maintaining
standards in the industry is essential
for its survival.
On average, two new potential
goat milk producers visit the Reids'
farm every week. "It's one of the few
areas where young people can get
into agriculture," said Bob.
Buying a few goats to milk is
easy. On the other hand, with no
quota system, it is sometimes too
easy to grow too quickly in the goat
industry.
"We have really resisted growing
too fast," said Bob. "With no quota
the temptation to keep adding on is
there."0
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