I like hearing back from our customers. It gives me an idea of how we’re doing in  terms of raising our livestock and producing quality meat. I also love trying out new recipes to cook goat meat. 

​Here’s a recipe one of our customers shared with me recently, broiled rosemary garlic goat chops served with sautéed mushrooms and onions, wild rice and asparagus. It looks wonderful. I’m definitely putting this on my to-cook-list.  In fact as the weather is warming up with spring, this would be a perfect recipe for the grill, also paired with freshly grown asparagus from our garden. So, thank you David for sharing!

Here’s the recipe, with three cooking options: broiling, pan frying and grilling.

Rosemary Garlic Goat Chops Three Ways (Broiled, Pan Fried or Grilled)
Ingredients:
½ c fresh rosemary, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
Sea salt
Ground black pepper
2 lbs. goat chops or rib chops (order Cylon Rolling Acres chops here)
1 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions:

1. Pull chops out of fridge to allow to come to room temperature
2. Mix olive oil, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper together to form rub
3. Rub all sides of chops

Cooking options:

Pan-fried goat chops:

1. In a pan, heat olive oil or butter on medium heat.
2. When hot, pan fry about 3-5 minutes on each side.
3. After cooking let chops rest for 2-3 minutes. Then enjoy!

Broiled goat chops:

1. Place chops on a greased sheet pan.
2. Turn on broiler to high. Place chops about 8 inches from the heat source.
3. Broil for about 10 minutes, flip half way through for desired browning.
4. After cooking let chops rest for 2-3 minutes. Then enjoy!

Grilled goat chops:

1. Preheat grill to high.
2. Cook for 4-6 minutes on each side. For thicker chops (3/4 inch) grill for 6-8 minutes on each side.
3. After cooking let chops rest for 2-3 minutes. Then enjoy!

Order your goat chops or rib chops from Cylon Rolling Acres here. For more goat meat recipes, cooking tips, promotions, and to know when goat meat is available, sign up for our email list here.

You don’t know how many times this winter (now spring) I’ve been asked, “How’s kidding going?” Each time I explain that we don’t have any babies yet since we’ve moved kidding to later in the season.  We’re set to kid in early April and then have the last batch of kids in May.

We’ve kidded and worked with baby goats in January through April, with both babies born on our farm and bottle babies we’ve raised since they were only a few days old.  The first few years raising goats we didn’t own a buck and our breeding schedule worked around the farm where we rented a buck.  We’ve also bred for earlier in the season (anytime between January and March) because that seems to be what most farms do in our area. So why not do the same? And, with raising bottle babies, we of course were on the schedule of the dairy farms we worked with.

There are many reasons farms kid earlier: raising for the show/fair kid market, having kids be at market weight in the fall, renting bucks like we have done, seasonal milking, and so on.

Here are three reasons why we’ve moved to late season kidding:

1. Be in sync with nature. There’s probably a reason why deer have their fawns in the spring time.  Wisconsin winters can be downright frigid cold. Kidding later in the season gives new kids a greater chance of thriving rather than being a “kid-sicle,” potentially leading to pneumonia or even losing a kid.  It also gives new moms a little extra time to let their maternal instincts kick in or time for the shepherd to assist (my preference is the first option).  Shortly after kidding we’re able to get the does and kids out on pasture rotationally grazing, taking advantage of the higher quality pasture earlier in the grazing season.
2. Reduce shepherd’s fatigue. Kidding or lambing can really be wearing on the farmer. Whether it’s a set schedule of late-night barn checks in person or by barn camera, it can get exhausting. That part isn’t going to change with warmer weather (as in not subzero temps). However, the increased effort, and even stress at times, to dry off and warm up new kids is reduced. I also tend to have a little more patience letting does clean up their newly born kids. Last season we also had a new baby (as in human kid) and it was harder to get out to the barn as regularly as I like to do so. Kidding later in the season gives us a little bit of flexibility on being able to bring my kids (again, human) down the to barn and a little more give and take on timing if I can’t get to check on a new set of kids immediately. 
3. Reduce the need for heaters. Mother Nature permitting, kidding later also allows us to reduce the use of heat lamps and infrared heaters to keep kids warm in their safe areas in the kidding pens and in the creep area in the main pen. If spring comes earlier, we might even be lucky enough to not need the heaters at all. Reducing use not only cuts down on our electrical and propane (we also have propane infrared heaters) bills, it also reduces the risk for fire by not using the heat lamps or using them minimally. When do use the heat lamps we use the ones from Premier 1 Fencing, which have more safety features built in than the standard metal heat lamp. We also like using infrared heaters (we have both propane and electric powered ones - the electric are from Sweater Heater).

Even with our later kidding season, we can still run into Mother Nature’s seasonal mood disorder. Last season we kidded a week earlier than this year and ended up having kids during the spring cold snap (single digit temps). We can try our best to work with the flow of our seasons in the Upper Midwest.  Kidding later works well for our farm and family.
​
If you’re interested in learning more about what we do on our farm raising goats for meat, join our online community here.  

What does ordering a whole goat mean? Are you literally getting the whole goat? No, not quite. Not sure if you have the freezer space? No need to worry, I’ll break it down for you here.

Essentially, you’re ordering your meat in bulk. But, if the thought of having a lot of meat is intimidating, don’t worry. I totally understand the concern. Buying goat in bulk is not as much as you might think. In fact, it fills up about a standard reusable grocery tote bag, just a little over 20 pounds of meat.

Why bulk? Bulk saves you money, and time by paying for all of the cuts of meats at once versus purchasing a few cuts of meat at a time, over time (I'm not a big fan of regular shopping, maybe you aren't either. I'd rather spend my time doing other things, like eating good food).

What does a whole goat include? What type of cuts can I expect? It will be cut into traditional meat cuts, the same as a lamb, this includes ground meat, leg, shoulder roast, shoulder steaks, chops, rack or rib chops, ribs, shanks, stew meat (curry cubes) and an option for organ meat (liver, heart, tongue and kidney), as well as bones. The picture on this blog post gives you an idea of the quantity of meat. All the meat is vacuum sealed and frozen for freshness.
 
How does the pricing work? You’ll pay a set price per pound based on the hanging weight, plus the processing fee from the butcher.  A deposit is required when placing an order. Final payment is due at the time of pick up.

(Hanging Weight x Price per Pound) + Processing Fee = Final Price

• What is hanging weight? Hanging weight is the weight taken immediately after harvest, but before the final trim made by the butcher. When buying a whole animal (similar to other proteins, such as buying beef, pork or lamb direct from a farmer) it’s standard practice to pay by hanging weight.
• Why does the hanging weight differ from how much meat I receive? Here’s a basic example, a live goat is 60 lbs., after harvest it’s hanging weight is about 30 lbs. (about 50% of live weight), and then coverts into about 21-22.5 lbs. of meat (about 70-75% of hanging weight). This final weight may vary based on how the meat is cut, if it’s bone-in or boneless, the leanness of the meat, and if you choose to keep the organ meats and/or bones. These percentages are based on Cornell University numbers for lamb, which lamb and goats tend to have comparable yield percentages.
• What does the processing fee cover? It covers the harvest, cuts and packaging of the meat. The fee may vary based on your requests. For example, the rate might be higher for custom sausage or cured meats vs. just traditional cuts.

When can I order? You can order your meat here. Typically, we have 3-4 order deadlines a season (October – March), with occasional order options outside of that timeframe.

To make sure you don’t miss out on ordering, sign up for our email list here.

How do I get my meat? We take care of picking up the meat from our processor. You’ll then pick up your order from our on-farm store on a prearranged time.

Still too much meat? That’s ok. You can always make purchase individual cuts of meat from our on-farm store here. Sign up for the email list to know when cuts are in stock, when there's sales and just to know what's happening on the goat farm.  

Our family loves eating tacos and other Mexican food. One of our favorite ways to eat goat meat is in a taco. This recipe was also inspired by a local Mexican restaurant, that occasionally offers goat meat tacos, and works well with a slow cooker, one of my favorite kitchen tools. More recently, I cooked the meat using the slow cook function in my Instant Pot (modifications are listed in the recipe).
 
Goat Barbacoa Tacos
Ingredients
3 lb.  goat roast (contact me to purchase meat)
 
Rub Ingredients
1 tbs smoked paprika
1 ½ tsp oregano
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp sea salt  
¼ tsp black pepper
Optional: ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
 
2 tbs divided butter
1 tbs liquid smoke
1 c goat or beef bone broth
2 large onions quartered
2 tbs adobe sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in sauce
2 chipotle peppers from same can of chipotle peppers in sauce
1 tbs minced garlic, from a jar
1-2 – 6 oz can tomato paste
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
 
Tortillas or taco shells of your choice
Toppings of your choice: chopped avocado, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream, lime juice
 
Directions

1. Mix the rub in a small bowl: smoked paprika, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper and cloves. For more kick, add cayenne pepper (optional). Rub over all sides of the roast. Keep any leftover rub.
2. Sear roast in pan with 1 tbs butter on all sides. If using an Instant Pot, use the sauté setting. I prefer to use a pan even if I’m using my Instant Pot.
3. Remove roast from Instant Pot, if it was used to sear the meat. Mix the following ingredients in your slow cooker (or Instant Pot): bone broth, onion, peppers, adobo sauce, garlic, liquid smoke and 1 tbs butter.
4. Put roast into slow cooker (or keep in the Instant Pot). For the slow cooker, set to low, for 8-10 hours.  For the Instant Pot, set to slow cook/more setting for 7 hours.
5. The roast is done when it is tender enough to pull the meat apart with two forks. If it is still tough, cook for another hour and check the meat again. Cooking time will vary based on your appliance and roast size.  If you haven’t cooked goat before, know that it often takes longer to cook than other kinds of meat, like beef or chicken. If cooked properly, it’s a delicious meat!
6. Once cooked, pull out the roast to shred on a plate. In the slow cooker (or Instant Pot), add one can of tomato paste and the apple cider vinegar. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth (you can also use a regular blender). If the sauce is too thin, add more tomato paste from the second can until it reaches your desired thickness.
7. Add shredded meat back into sauce and stir. Now it’s ready to eat or keep on warm until meal time.

 
Makes about 6 servings of tacos.

Recipe is inspired by a local Mexican restaurant, DJ's, and some of the cooking concepts are also loosely based of Barbacoa-Style Beef in the Instant Pot Miracle cookbook.

Some days on the farm it feels like I’m winning and other days not so much. This one is a win.

Earlier this month I found this wether, whom I call Kevin (all goats that look like this one are called Kevin on our farm BTW), with his front two legs caught in the crotch of a tree. After I pulled him out I realized his legs were sprained, swollen and he was too sore to walk on his own. He also was too big for me to carry out with 50-60 of his closest friends at my feet. So I pulled him out on a sled and set him up in a recovery pen in the barn and gave him some TLC. Slowly he’s been regaining strength in his legs and using them. In the last week he's been gingerly using his front legs instead of moving around on his knees, 

Today I moved him to our group pen in another barn with a handful of our goats that aren't on pasture. Right away he was busy "facing off" with another wether trying to establish his place in the pecking order in that group of goats. That's another good sign.  While he has lost a lot of conditioning, but I’m grateful he’s progressed as he has.

In June a quick, yet proving to be damaging, storm ⛈ went through. Since then we’ve been having electrical issues on the farm: stray voltage around the barns, metal in the barn carrying an electric current, issues with our electric fence, blown surge protector on fencing system, and even a goat that was either struck by lightening or grounded out a lightening strike by sheer bad luck of circumstances.

The other night we had our electrician out to troubleshoot and he was able to find the source of the issue: the wiring to the auto feeder was likely damaged during that early summer storm and was the cause of our issues. Luckily we aren’t using the auto feeder this time of year so he turned off the breaker and will return to make the fix.

This morning I’m working away at the kitchen counter while I have a sick kiddo home from pre-school. This is day two that he’s home, during my usually three-day work week. I’ll note that as a farmer, I’m truly never off duty, I still have to chores, check livestock and carve out time here and there for other projects outside of my Monday-Wednesday “8 to 5” work week. Don’t get me wrong. I am very glad I have the flexibility to take time off to be here for my kids when they aren’t feeling well. And, I do want to be here for him. But, that means I also had to cancel an onsite meeting I had with a meat processor and will likely sort of get to the rest of my tasks today (working on business marketing, a community outreach project, and of course the day-to-day work of the farm). That’s ok. It’s part of being a parent. But, if I’m really being honest as a one-woman shop, I admit it’s a little disheartening to feel like I’m losing traction on getting things done and moving the needle on my farm business.

Aside from my parent duties today (and, of course every day), part of the reason we’ve chosen to have daycare for our kids, is so I have designated time to focus on my business. It’s for a variety of motives: being present with my work and with my family, being safe around the farm, effective use of time in the office and on the farm, balance (or attempt!) between work and family time, and (also, an attempt) to prevent burn out in work and, even in our marriage. I know others who make it work and kudos to them!  This is what fits for our family and farm. [Side note: Did you know that Bert on Sesame Street was just reading “50 Shades of Oatmeal” before he got interrupted by Ernie to make a movie? Ha ha. Got to love PBS Kids ]

I’ve written and talked about this balance of being a parent and farming before. And as others may also know, one of my favorite “hobbies” is to listen to podcasts for both fun and professional development. This morning seemed to be a nice fit for sharing several “good listens” in the world of podcasts as it relates to women in agriculture and leadership.  Note these link to Apple podcasts since that's where I listen, but you should be able to find them on other podcast platforms.

• Women Rule POLITICO: Where are all the female farmers?
• NPR Hidden Brain: Men 45, Women 0
• Female Farmer Project: Childcare: Motherhood and farming
• Sharpen: The podcast for young professionals: A seat at the table with Lindsay Calvert

Do you know of other relevant podcasts? I’d love to hear your recommendations! I know have a few more Female Farmer Project and Sharpen podcasts on related to this topic on my "listen list."

Nearly a week ago we hosted a pasture walk on our farm to share our grazing practices and how we raise our goats on pasture with fellow graziers and goat farmers. Thank you to River Country Graziers (including Kevin Mahalko for leading the discussion), Wisconsin Farmers Union and the Indianhead Sheep and Goat Breeders Association for coordinating the event. And, thank you to my State Senator Patty Schachtner and Representative Rob Stafsholt for attending as well.

As a grazier with four or so years of experience, I was able to share how we’ve gradually renovated our pastures, set up our fencing and water system, practice rotational grazing, and manage our goat herds in a pasture-based system.  I’ve always enjoyed attending pasture walks to see how other farmers are grazing and managing their livestock. It was humbling as a newer grazier to be at a point where I could start to share what we’re doing on our farm with others. Personally, I also appreciated the discussion and tips other graziers offered during the walk as well.  I was able to take a way a few ideas regarding some of my current “challenges” as it relates to conductivity, grounding and hotness of the electric fencing and rotation timing.

I’m looking forward to taking in a few other pasture walks this summer, including others that are local and of course, other small ruminant graziers.

Thank you to Danielle Endvick, communications director for Wisconsin Farmers Union, for taking and sharing the photos of our pasture walk.