Photo by Ben Ashby on Unsplash.
August 9, 2021 | Montpelier, VT - The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) selected Land O'Lakes, Inc. dba Vermont Creamery for a $150,000 grant to conduct research on the potential for development of the goat dairy sector in Vermont, including cow to goat dairy conversions and new farm start-ups. The goal for this work is to quantitatively and qualitatively understand the current goat dairy sector in Vermont, near-term opportunities for developing the sector, and what producers need to be successful operators. As part of the project, Vermont Creamery will contract with a subject matter expert to conduct research and develop deliverables.
The research has several objectives:
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Identify the need for additional Vermont-sourced fluid milk production from existing processors, including but not limited to Vermont Creamery.
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Identify gaps or opportunities in technical assistance provision, financing, and animal husbandry (e.g., veterinarians, genetics, feed consultants/nutritionists, and other goat health and management professionals).
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Engage with producers to gauge the interest in cow to goat conversions and understand the specifics needs of those businesses.
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Assess educational opportunities that exist for dairy goat production at Vermont or regional institutions of higher education.
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Engage with the regional dairy sector and partake of opportunities to host, attend, and/or speak at other dairy focused events to share knowledge and engage with the broader community of stakeholders about goat dairy farming.
Results of this work, including a presentation and reports, will be made available through NE-DBIC in Fall 2022.
For more information about this project, contact Laura.Ginsburg@vermont.gov.