Edible endeavors
The Other White Milk by Kelly Yandell • Photography by JO Ann SANTAngelo
I
n an increasingly competitive and corporate-driven milk world,
B6, copper and selenium,” notes LeeAnne Carlson of Swede Farm
some Texas farmers are turning to the hardy, versatile goat for
goat dairy in Waller County. “But those are just numbers,” she adds.
their dairy production. Goats are famous for tolerating arid cli-
More important to her are the many lactose-intolerant customers
mates, and they browse instead of graze, which means that while
who say they are thrilled to be able to drink real milk for the first
they do like a variety of plants in their vicinity, they do not need, nor
time in decades.
want, vast expanses of rich grasses—making it possible to operate
Consumers might be warming up to goat’s milk, but in a state of
a successful dairy on a smaller piece of land. Goats are smaller and
26 million people, Swede Farm and Wateroak Farms are the only two
easier to manage than larger animals. “Our average female goat is
goat dairies licensed to sell pasteurized goat’s milk in retail outlets
a hundred and twenty-five pounds,” says Mark Burow of Wateroak
and farmers markets. And while out-of-state concerns do sell goat’s
Farms goat dairy in Robertson County. “You can move them, and
milk in retail stores, it’s of the ultra-pasteurized variety, which ne-
when one is sick, you can pick her up and take her to the barn and
gates many of the health benefits people seek from goat’s milk in the
treat her.” Not so with an 800-pound cow. And goats also have a
first place. “Low-temperature-pasteurized milk is a totally different
higher feed-to-milk conversion ratio and are known to have a pleas-
product from the ultra-pasteurized version,” says Swede Farm’s Tim
ant disposition. “Cows will kick your knees out,” Burow says.
Carlson (LeeAnne’s husband). When asked why there aren’t more
But in a dairy culture dominated by cow’s milk, many Texans have
goat’s milk dairies selling in the Texas marketplace, Tim points to
never even tasted goat’s milk. Or if they have, it may have been canned,
the costs of complying with state regulations, the time required to
powdered or ultra-pasteurized—processes that destroy the unique
build a large and regular clientele and one other factor that might
and clean taste of fresh goat’s milk. But a rise in goat’s milk’s populari-
not occur to the average consumer. “Unlike cows, goats are seasonal
ty, coupled with increasing availability, could change all of that.
breeders,” he says. “So at times, there is no goat milk at all.”
Cow’s milk and goat’s milk share a lot of similarities; however,
A goat dairy would need to have a rather large milk production
their differences are important. Goat’s milk has smaller fat particles
volume to justify complying with the layers of regulation imposed on
and a smaller curd, which make it easier to digest. Since it contains
retail sellers, but goat dairies tend to be smaller operations. If a farm
less of the sugar lactose than cow’s milk, many with lactose sensitiv-
milks only a dozen or so female goats, it might make more sense to
ities are still able to enjoy it. According to the American Dairy Goat
market raw milk. Raw goat’s milk falls under the same set of statutes
Association, goat’s milk contains more riboflavin and phosphorus
in Texas as raw cow’s milk. This means a customer must obtain the
than cow’s milk. And it’s also “higher in calcium, vitamin A, vitamin
milk at the farm from a farmer who has been licensed by the state to EDIBLEAUSTIN.COM
SUMMER 2013
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