Miles Hooper dreams of the day he can milk his goats for two years straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Saanens\u2014the breed Hooper and his wife, Daryll Breau, raise at Ayers Brook Goat Dairy in Randolph, Vermont\u2014are recognized as the highest-producing goat breed in the world. Originally from Switzerland, with snowy white fur and pink-tinged ears and noses, the average doe can give milk for 150 to 300 days on a single lactation cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But with intensive breeding backed by genetic data, Hooper hopes to double\u2014or even triple\u2014the length of that cycle. \u201cWe\u2019ll see about a 720-day lactation for a lot of those goats, which is a step closer to where we want to be,\u201d he says. \u201cUltimately, we want the average to be somewhere in the vicinity of 900 days.\u201d He\u2019s just one in a new generation of dairy farmers who have more information about their animals than ever\u2014and who are using it to raise healthier herds, strengthen their businesses, and produce better milk for cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting as a project for Vermont Creamery in 2012, Ayers Brook still sells milk to be made into the creamery\u2019s soft-ripened cheeses such as Bonne Bouche and Coupole. When Vermont Creamery founders Allison Hooper (Miles\u2019s mother) and Bob Reese sold to Land O\u2019Lakes in 2017, Miles and Daryll bought back the farm. Now, they\u2019re focused on a goal bigger than making great milk: creating a dairy goat unlike any the world has seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s where Saanens come in. The breed\u2019s genomic key is the most highly developed in the goat world, with the performance and genetic data of more than 45,000 animals. This information gives farmers unprecedented insight into how the offspring of their best cows, does, and ewes might perform when impregnated with the semen of a given bull, buck, or ram. Genomic selection has been common in dairy cattle breeding for more than a decade, but it\u2019s newer in goat farming. \u201cWe know that the folks that were early adopters to genomics in the cow world have really excelled because of that,\u201d Hooper says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humans have selected livestock for certain traits since the first species were domesticated more than 10,000 years ago. Landrace animals, uniquely adapted to local climates and landscapes, were bred for everything from heat tolerance to fiber quality to their ability to forage for food. It wasn\u2019t until the eighteenth century that standardized breeds became commonplace. Farmers began breeding animals for certain physical characteristics standard to their breed, like size or color, and specialized purposes\u2014milk, meat, draft, and fiber. This shift helped make animals and farms larger and more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The development of artificial insemination (AI) in the 1930s and frozen semen in the 1950s continued this trend and made breeding a more technical, hands-off affair. Rather than raising or borrowing a bull to breed your cows the old-fashioned way, farmers could choose from the semen of pedigreed sires thousands of miles away. Still, it took years\u2014until that cow had a daughter, and that daughter had her first calf\u2014to see how well the desired traits had been passed down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, keeping detailed records on metrics like milk volume, component levels, and how well animals conform physically to their breed can make these decisions easier, with more consistent results. And although breeding decisions must still be proven over time, genomic data gives farmers more confidence than ever before that their strategy is sound long before a new generation is born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the things that has held back the goat world for so long is that people have been indifferent to the power of collecting this information on their animals,\u201d Hooper says. \u201cThat’s not an insignificant line item for us, but we firmly believe we couldn’t manage this farm without it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breeding for desirable traits directly affects a dairy farm\u2019s bottom line. Research is even underway to assess whether genetic data can help breed cows that emit less methane as a climate change mitigation strategy. Smart breeding can also create a herd whose members live longer, better lives: Pest and disease resistance and ease of kidding mean healthier animals. Breeding and pregnancy are stressors; complications giving birth, Hooper says, are a leading cause of mortality. Even that 900-day average lactation goal can benefit routine- loving livestock. \u201cThe steadier and more consistent we can keep things for the goats, the better they produce and the happier they are,\u201d he says. \u201cThe less pregnancies that we can put them through for the same amount of milk, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n By going big on genomics, Hooper also hopes Ayers Brook\u2019s approach will appeal to cow dairies looking to diversify into goats. \u201cWe believe that the biggest opportunity for goats is not necessarily to attract new farmers into the business, but to help dairy farmers who are seeing a stagnant industry,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s at least growth in goat’s milk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Halfway across the country, Mariana Marques de Almeida hopes that high-quality genetics and strategic breeding can give American sheep dairying a much-needed boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Ms. J and Co. in Monroe, Wisconsin, the Portuguese-born animal scientist, breeding consultant, and cheese specialist raises 800 Spanish Assaf sheep. Before she and Maple Leaf Cheese store owners Jeff Wideman and Shirley Knox launched the company in 2015, they noticed immense market potential in the US, which is the top importer of sheep\u2019s milk cheese in the world. \u201cIt was 33 million pounds of [sheep] cheese imported that year,\u201d she says. \u201cThat’s more than two truckloads of cheese a day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n European sheep cheeses like feta, Manchego, pecorino, and Roquefort are popular in the states, but consumers often don\u2019t realize they\u2019re sheep products. And until they were recently lifted, bans on importing sheep genetics into the US due to disease concerns inhibited farmers\u2019 ability to improve their flocks. Currently, there are fewer than 200 sheep dairies nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we are looking at building local markets, we need to increase production here, and we need to use the tools that they have in Europe to produce cheese here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Assafs, known for high milk volume and fertility, were developed in Israel in the 1950s and have been selectively bred by Spanish breeders since the 1970s. Spanish Assafs are backed by robust genomic data, and they fare as well in Wisconsin\u2019s freezing winters as they do in Spain\u2019s Mediterranean climate. It\u2019s Marques de Almeida\u2019s hope that serving as a resource for small ruminant farmers and providing access to high-quality genetics can help make raising dairy sheep viable in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If high-quality genetics become easier to source, she believes, the barrier to entry and startup costs for would-be dairy sheep farmers will be much lower. Sheep are smaller, easier to handle, and require less feed than cows. Plus, sheep\u2019s milk has significantly higher fat and protein compared to goat\u2019s and cow\u2019s milk, making it excellent for cheesemaking despite lower overall milk volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we are looking at building local markets, we need to increase production here, and we need to use the tools that they have in Europe to produce cheese here,\u201d she says. \u201cMaybe one day we can produce it at a lower cost than the imports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even in the cow sector, where high-producing Holsteins makeup around 90 percent of the nation\u2019s dairy herd, farmers are looking to other breeds\u2014and unconventional breeding strategies\u2014to boost farm viability, raise healthier animals, and make high-quality cheese. \u201cGenetics and breeding are the reason we can farm where we are, with the heat and the humidity,\u201d says Jessica Little, co-owner of Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, Georgia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She and her cheesemaker husband, Jeremy Little, run the family\u2019s cheese business\u2014Georgia\u2019s first\u2014and source milk from three pasture-based dairies run by her parents, Al and Desiree Wehner, and brother her Clay. But raising animals on pasture for cheesemaking in their particular climate took time to figure out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wehners ran a 2,000-cow conventional dairy in Florida until 1993, when they decided to relocate to South Georgia with 500 of their best animals, and transition to rotational grazing. They soon learned their Holsteins were ill-suited to grazing outdoors in the hot, humid South. They consulted with old timers in the area\u2014what breed did their grandfathers raise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the early \u201990s, nobody wanted Jerseys because they gave you so little milk that it wasn’t worthwhile. You couldn’t afford to feed them for the amount you would get back. But in this rotational grazing style, it was perfect,\u201d Little says. \u201cThe milk tasted so different, which is the reason Sweet Grass exists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Wehners, who both have degrees in animal science, decided to create \u201cAfter 30 years, my parents have figured out that the cow that works in our system in South Georgia is never going to win any beauty contests,\u201d Little says, \u201cbut they’re going to live really long lives, give really high-quality milk, and have a higher breed back rate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Animal-Husbandry-ABDF.png\")
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At Ayers Brook Goat Dairy, \u201cevery goat needs to make varsity every year,\u201d says farmer Miles Hooper. \u201cThere’s no JV team, and you have to try out all the time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/a>
Assaf ewes line up for milking time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
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Morgan Holes milking a sheep at Maple Leaf Cheese.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>
Sweet Grass Dairy\u2019s mixed-breed herds have the genetics to thrive on grass in south Georgia\u2019s hot, humid climate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
a cow that would thrive on their farm. That meant breeding for milk rich in fat and protein longevity\u2014a cow that could have 12 to 15 lactations in a lifetime rather than two or three\u2014and short, strong legs that could handle frequent walks from the pasture to the milking parlor. They\u2019d need wide muzzles to pick up lots of grass with each bite and large rumens to digest it. Plus, good heat tolerance and fertility, and the now-desirable A2A2 protein. They mixed in breeds like Normande, Limousin, heat-adapted Senepol, and even Holstein and Friesian to ensure sufficient volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n