Gloria Hafemeister
Correspondent
MARKESAN
Tom and Tina Huitema are optimistic about the future of the goat industry and said that currently there is more demand than there is milk supply. They think dairy goats are the best way to keep their farm profitable.
The state is assisting with the growth in the industry through the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Jeanne Meier works with goat producers on educational programs and provides assistance in getting started.
The Huitemas entered into the venture as a way of diversifying the farm they operate together with his parents Richard and Penny Huitema. Tom says when they looked for a way to bring in more farm income to support two families they decided the investment in dairy cows was too high. Goats also produce less manure and are easier to handle.
Richard Huitema cash crops and does custom chopping and baling. Previously the family also raised beef cattle but gave that up when they turned to the goat venture.
They started with 29 goats in 2006. Since goats generally have two or three kids at a time, it didn’t take long before their herd grew to enough that they could market their milk. Now they have a herd of 700.
For many goat producers, lack of quality genetics and verifiable production records has limited herd improvement. The Huitemas sought the best genetics available, often from other states. They have 15 bucks on the farm that they bought from herds with good production records. They are also involved in something common in many dairy cow herds but is a little unusual in goat herds. They had the semen from one of the top 10 bucks in the country shipped to a breeder in Kentucky who does embryo transplant work. They will get the doe kids that result, combining the genetics of a top-producing doe with this excellent buck.
This works well for them since they are still in the expansion mode. Once they have reached their goal they will maintain a closed herd, but right now they aren’t sure what that number will be. Their short-term goal is to reach 1,200 milking does. That will make it feasible to put up a freestall barn and get the maximum use of their double 12 milking parlor where they now milk 140 does per hour.
Tom comments, “The industry average is 1,400 pounds of milk (per doe per year). With the genetics we’re buying our herd will have the potential of producing 4,500 pounds. All of the bucks we use are out of does that were producing over 4000 pounds.”
The does they currently milk average seven pounds a day. The industry average is between 5.5 and 7.5 pounds a day. The Huitemas expect that average to go up because they are currently milking many yearlings and as a goat matures, milk production and components like protein and fat increases.
Like cows, the goats kid once a year but their gestation period is only five months. They are naturally ready for breeding in fall and sometimes that stretches into February. The Huitemas have not done anything to extend the breeding period as some goat producers do to spread out production over the year. They say they are more interested in concentrating on improving genetics and keeping their animals healthy.
“We extend the season a little but we like time to clean up and sanitize the nursery,” Tina says.
She notes, “When they don’t breed or have problems kidding usually it’s because they have a nutritional problem.”
Even their little daughter Matty can help bottle feed the baby goats.
“Goats aren’t all that much different than cows,” he says. “They kind of let us know what they want to eat. We experiment with the vitamin and minerals. They will eat what they need.”
Goats like haylage and baleage and they also like a little straw in their diet. Their need for high protein feed is lower than with dairy cows. Tom says, “If we don’t put straw in the ration they will eat their bedding.”
“We mix our own grains here on the farm because we believe consistency is important,” Tom adds.
Tina raises the kids, bottle feeding them for a week with milk replacer (a Jersey blend used for dairy cows). Then they go to a nipple pail. Once they are on a pail they are housed in pens that hold six kids each.
The babies are in a heated nursery and they use heat lamps for the newborns.
They only keep the females, putting them into group pens to match them with the selected buck for breeding. While dairy cattle are generally well over a year before they are bred, goats are ready for breeding at just seven months.
“We go by weight,” Tom says. “If they weigh 80 pounds to 100 pounds they usually won’t have a problem with delivery.”
