Goatherding takes social step

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Darlene Stern feeds her Saanen goats on her southeast-Wisconsin farm. She and her family have been raising the inquisitive breed for almost 40 years.

Submitted by Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

Goats are naturally curious. Any opportunity to investigate an opening in containment beckons them like a siren until they are satisfied. Saanens are always ready to check out something, no matter their age.

Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

Sabre, now 5, is the senior breed buck at the Stern farm. He was 3 when he posed for the camera.

Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

Saanens are the Holsteins of the goat world, Darlene Stern says. They are generally more docile, less prone to difficulty and good producers.

Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

Darlene Stern says her family chooses to maintain a closed herd, meaning they only raise their own offspring. The only outside animal coming into the herd is a new breeding buck every three or so years.

Submitted by Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

Saanen goats on the Stern farm consider escape routes. Saanens derive their name from the Saanen valley in the south of Canton Berne, Switzerland, according to the National Saanen Breeders Association. In 1893 several-thousand head were taken out of the valley and spread throughout Europe. Between 1904 and the 1930s about 150 Saanens were imported into the United States from Switzerland. Later importations came in via England.

Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

New-mown lawn grass provides a treat for eager goats on the Stern farm.

Darlene Stern/For Agri-View

Prefer us on Google

Darlene Stern For Agri-View

KEWASKUM, Wis. – When I first considered writing about a goat herder’s perspective on social media, I didn’t think I had a perspective. I didn’t think social media was pertinent to my trade. In a world mushrooming with social-media opportunities I am a dinosaur.

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Milk-goat inventory in Wisconsin as of Jan. 1, 2019, was 72,000 head, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service "Sheep and Goats" report. Wisconsin ranked first in total milk goats. The inventory was an increase of 7 percent from January 2018. NASS

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All Goats and Kids Inventory Jan. 1, 2019

All goats and kids inventory in the United States as of Jan. 1, 2019, totaled 2.62 million head, a decrease of 1 percent from 2018. Breeding-goat inventory totaled 2.15 million head, a decrease of 1 percent from 2018. Does one year old and older, at 1.60 million head, were 1 percent fewer than in 2018. Market goats and kids totaled 474,000 head, an increase of 2 percent from a year ago. The kid crop for 2018 totaled 1.64 million head for all goats, a slight increase from 2017. Meat and all other goats totaled 2.06 million head as of Jan. 1, 2019, a decrease of 1 percent from 2018. Milk-goat inventory was 430,000 head, an increase of 2 percent from Jan. 1, 2018, while Angora goats decreased 5 percent, totaling 137,000 head. Mohair production in the United States during 2018 was 755,000 pounds. Goats and kids clipped totaled 133,000 head. Average weight per clip was 5.7 pounds. Mohair price was $5.25 per pound with a value of 3.96 million dollars. NASS

Married for 42 years, Darlene Stern and her husband have raised a family of nine in rural southeast Wisconsin. She has been a stay-at-home mom, goat herdsperson, dyslexia tutor, midwifery advocate, newsletter creator, manuscript editor, published author, model for professional artists and passionate pursuer of Jesus Christ. Her degree in geography from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville helped raise two National Geography Bee state finalists, one of whom was a national finalist. She finds great delight in short-term overseas ministry trips, writing about her experiences.