by SUSAN MANN
Goat milk farmers will be asked next week if they approve dissolving their organization so the industry can have one association with a single, strong voice.
Jennifer Haley, executive director of the Ontario Goat Breeders Association, says if the vote at the Ontario Goat Milk Producers’ Association annual meeting March 13 in Guelph is approved the organization would be dissolved and its membership list merged with that of the breeders’ association.
There are about 80 members in the goat milk producers association and about 135 in the goat breeders association. Some farmers hold memberships in both organizations.
When the goat milk producers association was formed in 1989, there was a difference of opinion between it and the goat breeders association. Goat milk association president Laurie Llewellyn South says in the past it was felt the goat breeders association primarily focused on the meat industry and goat breeding. But a lot of things have changed during the past 15 years.
Llewellyn South says that over the years the need for the division between the two organizations “is less than the need to have one voice. To move the industry forward we need to have one representative organization for all goat farmers.” The goat milk producers’ board is recommending approval of the motion to dissolve the association.
“The current structure of (the Breeders Association) does have a mandate of milk, meat and fibre,” Haley explains. “That has probably been misunderstood in the past.”
Haley says the goat industry has been discussing its future for the past three to four months. Farmers, government officials, processors and others in the industry have all said there needs to be one goat voice. “We can’t have multiple goat voices out there.” BF
Goat Industry Time Has Come
It is wonderful to see the goat industry developing into a substantial way for farmers to make a living. This has mostly happened in the last 20 years. I can remember when anyone buying or keeping a goat was considered a fool. In Canada it was a joke to have anything to do with a goat or with someone who had goats. Not so today and this is proof positive that odd ball livestock can have potential to develop into something worthwhile and exciting. I congratulate those in goats now and am sure the business will continue to get better. I also notice a lot of interest in rabbits which years ago was also a lark. We live in a global economy and if you look around the world humans eat some of the weirdest things we Canadians can imagine.