42 GOAT dairies


Responses were supportive. “We have Alberta Goat and different goat associations but those groups tend to be geared toward hobby and lifestyle goat farmers,” she says. “They are not necessarily relevant to commercial dairy. We have different issues and different needs. I think it’s time for us to get up to par with others in the ag industry. If we want to have a united voice and we want to make an impact on the industry, we’re going to have to start hustling a bit.” Once an association is formally constituted, Voth envisions a two-day annual meeting starting in 2018. The first day would be an association meeting with a business meeting on day two. She has secured $5,000 through the Growing Forward program under the BC Strategic Outreach Initiative Funding Program. The new association would be open to all commercial dairy goat farms in BC and Alberta.


The new association would also


host webinars, a distance learning technology Voth is familiar with from her social work. The first is set for January 10. It will feature a two-hour session with Chris Clark, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, regarding disease management and biosecurity in relation to milking.


Broad support Voth’s efforts have support from


other producers. “We’ve all been in meetings where


everyone thinks it’s a tremendous idea but you still need one person to take


nfrom page 41


the initiative to do it,” says Gerald Klok, a 150-dairy goat farmer and cash cropper from north of Lethbridge. “It’s nice to see Merel putting the effort into it because sometimes – we all know how farmers are – sometimes, we just need that little extra push.” Koller has long encouraged


producers to organize but as the processor, he couldn’t be the lead. “I am very grateful that Merel


started the process now. It always needs someone to go ahead. An association will give us a voice and might help get funding,” he says. “Eastern Canada dominates the goat industry and a western association will make us more involved.” Tom Lesher, who with his wife


Karen, milks 250 goats in Lacombe, Alberta in addition to operating a 3,000 head cattle feedlot, said the prospect of regular education sessions for producers is encouraging. “If we get this set up, it will be an


online forum where we can more readily interact with each other giving feedback and getting it as well. We just don’t have the experience that others have in eastern Canada or Holland or Israel where they have more goats,” he says. “We’re just learning.” While she’s hopeful about the association, Voth is also realistic. “Some people approached us to say


they really want to move this forward. Other people said, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea,’ but it will be really interesting by the time we actually form an association with directors to see how many people are willing to step forward and do a job,” she says.


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • JANUARY 2018


Dairy goat owners learn from one another


A key benefit of the annual producer meetings Happy Days Dairies


Ltd. organizes for its 14 farms is the chance to learn more about the industry and dairy goat management. This year, Lloyd Wicks of Grasshill Farms, a large Ontario producer, joined the meeting via Skype to talk about his operation and answer questions. Tom and Karen Lesher of Lacombe, Alberta were among those who


appreciated Wicks’ presentation, which focused on raising kids separate from their mothers rather than at the mother’s teat. “If we don’t keep the animals alive and healthy, then we have no


future replacements,” explains Lesher. “It’s always a challenge to raise those babies in really a non-natural environment because they aren’t nursing on mom, so he talked about the successes he’s had – different vaccines and feeding protocols.” One take-away for Lesher was the heated flooring Wicks uses to keep


his kids warm. Lesher has since ordered heat pads for his farm. Dairy goats are typically milked twice a day with quite dramatic


production variance – 1.7 litres to 3.4 litres depending on the breed and the individual animal. Boosting milk yields is an ongoing process. “I show statistics like how much milk we purchased, how much we


sold, how the quality was,” says processor Donat Koller of Happy Days Dairies in Chilliwack. “These stats are shared openly and are very useful and help us plan and improve quality and efficiency. We also always discuss pricing, which then becomes a process of everybody being involved, and not just the processor dictating the price.” Happy Days producers averaged $1.07 a litre in 2017. Lesher is happy with the collaborative price-setting process and the 2018 price producers worked out at the meeting. “Donat’s developed a system where our yearly price is based on how


much we deliver in the winter and that has encouraged us all to be more successful in breeding out of season when they wouldn’t naturally kid and produce milk in the wintertime,” says Lesher. “Our only challenge then is to do better at our job and produce more milk per animal and maybe have more animals, which also helps our bottom line.” In addition to sit-down seminars, this year’s meeting featured tours of the Happy Days processing plant in Chilliwack and two farms in Agassiz. —Myrna Stark Leader


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