Farm Tours – to depart Orangeville Fairgrounds at 8:30 am on Wednesday, November 2

JASON LYONS, CALEDON
Jason is a seventh – generation dairy farmer who started working with dairy goats four years ago, after working for Bruce and Sharon Vandenburg for over two years. Jason purchased 100 does and started building his own operation from the ground-up. All renovations to the barn were done by Jason and his father. He is currently milking 150 commercial crossbred does in a rented facility. Jason purchases all forages and straw from his father and uncle and ships his milk to Hewitt’s Dairy. His herd is a mix of Saanen and Alpine does with a bit of Toggenberg thrown into the mix.

CAPRA-VILLE DAIRY, PALMERSTON
Tom Huber and Matt and Sharon Huber milk 400 - 500 Saanen does that are mostly grade does with focus placed on large does with high production and components. They are using some Dutch, French, and American semen in order to maintain and improve a small group of purebred Saanens in their herd. The Hubers have been feeding Shur-Gain pellet ration for one and a half years and have had their milk tested by DHI for seven years. They have an acidified milk program for the kids in their herd.

WOOLWICH DAIRY, ORANGEVILLE
Woolwich Dairy’s head office is located in Orangeville, Ontario, and is a federally inspected, HACCP certified production facility that boasts 40,000 square feet of state-of-the-art cheese making capabilities. Today, as Canada’s largest and leading goat cheese producer, the Woolwich Dairy banner is synonymous with quality and their international award-winning cheeses embody the very essence of world-class goat cheese. Family owned and operated, Woolwich Dairy’s passion for creating artisan cheese through time-honored traditional cheese making methods has contributed to its success.

ALLEN MARTIN, MOUNT FOREST
Allen Martin has been raising Saanen goats for five years, and milks about 130 does. Some goals for the future of his operation include improving production and starting to artificially inseminate does. In the meantime, to improve his herd’s genetics, Allen breeds less desirable does with a Boer buck; the crossbreed kids and sold for meat. The kids on the Martin farm are fed acidified milk, and Allen feeds his does wrapped baylage, which he gets tested for nutritional value, and a custom balanced pellet.