'Got milk' -- Demand for Goat Cheese and Milk Is Soaring, Speaker Says
PLATTEVILLE, Wis. - Opening the fifth annual Focus on Goats conference Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, speaker Bob Wills proclaimed, "we are no longer a kid industry." It's grown to an "adult" industry.
A growing number of dairy-goat farms and supportive infrastructure has propelled Wisconsin to lead the nation in the production of goat-milk products. Members' herds range in size from a few goats for home milk consumption to more than 300 in several commercial dairies.
About 150 people attended the first day of the two-day conference, which concludes today. "Producers are hungry for information," said Jeanne Meier, of the Dairy Business Innovation Center.
There are 16 to 18 plants that process goat milk in Wisconsin, including Woolwich, in Lancaster, and Montchevre-Betin, of Belmont, the largest producer of goat milk and cheese in the country.
The 2011 U.S. Champion Cheese is a goat's milk cheese produced in Wisconsin. Meier said there's always been a pretty good interest in goat-milk products developed in the U.S., but much of it came from Europe.
"As people traveled in Europe and tasted the good cheeses, they came back looking for them," she said. "We discovered we could produce those good cheeses here."
According to Meier, the industry is growing at a rate of about 20 percent annually because of the demand. "Even now during this economy, that means people are interested in different tastes and new tastes," she said.
She also noted that there are many chefs who have been influential in bringing goat-cheese products into their cooking. "It's a very versatile kind of cheese with a new taste and people like it."
Meier attributed another reason for the industry's growth - the animal's size and Midwest topography. "They fit with the land ethic," she said, "especially in this part of the state or the Midwest, where there are smaller farms and maybe hillier farms that aren't conducive to row cropping."
Goats can efficiently produce milk on marginal brushy and swampy land that would not sustain a cow, and they require much less feed and space. Meier said goats are smaller animals and easier to manage.
She pointed out there is a higher percentage of female goat farmers than in any other animal farm sector.
One of the first animals to be domesticated by man was the goat. "They've provided meat, milk, clothing - everything you needed - throughout history," Meier said.
