Dairy goat farming in Wisconsin is on the rise, according to statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture.
Clara Hedrich of LaClare Family Creamery talks about the popularity of dairy goats. (WBAY Photo)
Findings released in 2019 show Wisconsin ranks first in the nation in the number of milk goats.
Clara Hedrich and her husband have worked with goats since the late 1970’s. They started out small. Over time, their business grew into the LaClare Family Creamery in Fond du Lac County. Hedrich calls the area a mecca for dairy goat farming.
“There’s a lot of dairy goats right here in this tiny area, Calumet County, Fond Du Lac County, probably the highest concentration of dairy goat farming in the nation,” says Hedrich.
Hedrich says she’s not surprised that the industry is growing.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says as of January, Wisconsin had 72,000 head of dairy goats. That’s up seven percent from 2018. It’s also ahead of every state in the country.
There are a number of possible factors in the increase. People are becoming more health conscious, and curious about other types of milk and cheese.
Hedrich says the dairy goat can’t compete with the dairy cow, but about 65 percent of the world’s population drinks goat milk and eats goat meat.
“Why is the consumer kind of interested in the milk? One, obviously, we have a wonderful flavor, and then two, if you think about the two milks, the goat milk is naturally homogenized, so the fat particles are a lot tinier, so they spend less time in your digestive tract,” says Hedrich.
CLICK HERE for the USDA report on Wisconsin goats.
Source: WBAY
