Farm Tours

As part of the educational opportunities offered as part of the International Goat Symposium, you will have the chance to take one of two farm tours to see some of Ontario’s progressive goat operations. On Tuesday August 10th, buses will depart from the Stratford Agriplex for both a North and South Farm Tour. Each of these tours will provide the opportunity to tour the barn, talk to the farmers and see how they manage their operations. Lunch is provided on both tours. Buses will bring everyone back to the Stratford Agriplex for the official kick-off event of the International Goat Symposium 2010.

North Tour

Steve Greydanus, Carlingford

At the Greydanus farm in St. Paul, they are presently milking 150 Saanen, La Manchia, and Alpine nannies, and have 180 doelings with some ready to deliver their offspring in summer and the balance to breed in winter. They started milking in February of 2009 with a herd of 100 and expanded with the purchase of another small herd in the fall. They plan to continue to increase their milking herd to 250 -300 nannies with an average daily production of 3.5 litres per goat. In order to achieve this goal they are currently researching milk weighing and tracking systems. Another goal of theirs is to work on a lighting program from breeding throughout the year so that there is a constant supply of milk.

Ron Van Bakel, Sebringville

Ron and Martin Van Bakel, a father and son partnership, are currently renovating a hog finishing barn into a meat goat operation. An eight room modern hog barn is being modified for eventual capacity of approximately 300 does. With the downturn in hog prices of the last few years, Ron decided to turn to organic cropping practices. He was impressed by the hay crops grown by neighbouring organic producers, but rather than trying to sell the hay off the field, he opted to have a ruminant species graze, as the manure compost could be used to fertilize the soil. All six Van Bakel children greatly enjoy the goats. The kid goats are marketed through local auction centers in Kitchener and Brussels. Ron and Martin hope to continue developing new market opportunities in the future.

William Kuepfer and family, Milverton

William Kuepfer and family are members of the Amish community and milked cows up until a year ago when they decided to try their hand at milking goats. At present they milk 150 goats with the long term goal of growing the herd to 350 to 400 milking does. The Kuepfers built a new facility in 2008 to use for milking. The barn is naturally ventilated with 10 ft turkey curtains on both sides of the barn. The goats are milked in a Norwell double 18 tombstone parlour. Another feature of the barn is the recessed pens, which allow for year round manure storage. When William built the barn, he decided to use what forage was already on the farm and has been feeding haylage and corn silage to the herd with some success. William and son Ryan have set goals to increase milk production, while increasing the health and quality of the herd. They would like to begin feeding a TMR this year, breed does year round in order to have a more constant milk flow, and have set milk weighing and recording as a priority for the upcoming year.

Donna Hancock and Lorne Thomson, Elora

Wellington Fibres is made up of a small fibre mill and Angora goat herd. Wellington Fibres process their own fibre as well as some from other fibre producers including wool, alpaca, angora, and dog hair. Donna and Lorne have a breeding herd of 35 Angora goats which was established in 1988. Soon after getting into the fibre goat industry, they realized the need to add value to the product they were producing. They decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and put in their own mill 4 years ago. Donna has completed a 6 year spinning certificate course and Lorne has the ability to fix almost anything. With their combined talents they process yarn for many fibre producers in Ontario and other provinces. A visit to the mill leaves most people with a greater appreciation of the fibre processing business.