Local couple offers goat milk alternative
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
*Goat milk and cow milk have similar levels of lactose, therefore, people who are lactose intolerant would have the same problem with either goat or cow milk.
* Many problems attributed to lactose intolerance are actually allergies. About 75 percent of people who are allergic to cow milk are not allergic to goat milk.
* Goat milk is generally more digestible for humans than cow milk. A protein called alpha s1 casein is much higher in cows than goats. The protein is involved in curd formation and is also less easily digested. An additional factor is the fat globule size. Cow milk requires homogenization in order to allow fat to enter suspension in milk. Cow milk also contains agglutinin, a protein that makes fat globules stick together. Goat milk has small fat globules that are naturally in suspension and goat milk does not contain agglutinin. Those differences are believed to have an effect on digestibility and may be the reason some people tolerate goat milk better than cow milk.
* Goat milk is higher in vitamin A, thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6 and fat content. Cow milk is higher in riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin B12, and calcium. |
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There’s no denying many people find goats irresistible.
Martha and Dave Horal fall into that group. The Horals are owners of the latest agricultural enterprise in the Goldendale area, Marlee’s Dairy Goats.
The Horals moved to Goldendale, from Idaho, two years ago. Martha, who has a history of working livestock, back to her days as a red Angus breeder in the Vancouver area, needed something on their small acreage east of Goldendale.
Lack of rain and pasture resources ruled out cattle, so Martha opted for goats.
“I just needed something to do,” says Horal. She began with Boer goats, a meat breed, which she continues to raise and sell through the sale barn in Toppenish.
Raising Boer goats led to interest in other breeds. They have the fairly standard Nubians, but also a couple more unusual breeds, the LaMancha, known for being earless (they actually hear fine, just lack large outside ears), and the Oberhasli, an attractive brown and black goat native to Switzerland.
Martha says she needed to get something out of the new goats to help pay their way, so she began the milk goat operation last spring.
In an incredibly short amount of time, the Horals accomplished the rigorous process of gaining grade A dairy certification from the state.
The investment in remodeling the barn to meet state certification for a milking parlor, and the equipment and testing requirements, probably belie the issue of the goats paying their way. Currently their production is about three or four gallons a day from five goats.
The goats are milked morning and night. It is clearly a labor of love.
As Dave puts it, “they are almost human.” One reason for keeping the herd small is that Martha enjoys hand milking the goats.
“I could stay out here with them all day,” says Martha.
They already have an automated milking system in place, but it isn’t being used yet, as they enjoy hand milking and the interaction with the goats, who seem to look forward to looking at pictures of goats on the wall of the parlor and the treats at the end of milking.
Small expansion is on the horizon, but the Horals say they want to keep the herd small. They market via word of mouth and limited advertising.
They have developed their own label, and package in plastic bottles purchased from a cattle dairy at Battle Ground.
Currently Martha delivers milk, but is working on their facilities to allow customers to pick up their milk at the dairy.
Grade A certification allows their milk to be sold through retail outlets in Washington, although it is currently only available from the farm.
Marlee’s goat milk tastes very similar to cow milk because they do not keep male goats at the farm (buck goats are the source of the famous goat odor) and they feed high quality alfalfa and grain supplement, the same as most cow dairies.
The Horals do not pasteurize their milk, which is somewhat controversial. Washington is one of a few states that allow retail marketing of unpasteurized milk.
However, the state also requires a warning message on the label that says in “may contain harmful bacteria. Pregnant women, children, the elderly, and persons with lowered resistance to disease have the highest risk of harm from use of this product.”
That is a pretty daunting statement to place on milk, and the Horal’s have already lost one customer, who chose to avoid the risk. Raw milk advocates decry the notion that unpasteurized milk is a risk.
They argue quality benefits outweigh risks and that properly handled milk is a low risk for contamination.
As a grade A dairy, Marlee’s milk is tested weekly by the state, offering some assurance to consumers. The milk is sold in gallon and half-gallon containers for $6 and $3, respectively.
Marlee’s dairy can be contacted at 509-773-5190.
 “Yoo-hoo” to the American Goldfinch
Backyard Birding
By Hallie Barta
I was leading my horse to her paddock one morning in early September when she noticed something moving among the weeds of one of our overgrown cow pastures. She watched, nostrils flared and muscles tensed, while I strained to figure out what she was looking at.
Upon the arrival of chillier mornings and the finishing up of nesting and fledging, the birds spend more time out foraging as the plants go to seed and insects dwindle.
What my horse saw, I discovered after turning her out, looked like an oversize anthill crawling with fluffy yellow bodies that happened to be our state bird, the American Goldfinch.
Goldfinches, like any finch, are primarily seed-eaters who forage in flocks of up to 300 birds, often mixing with pine siskins or other finches. Favorite autumn meals always include as much thistle and chicory seed as is available. This particular flock was digging into the copious amounts of chicory seeds off the drying plants in the cow pen.
In the winter, seeds become scarce and goldfinches will take advantage of birdfeeders. Bird experts swear by tiny thistle seeds served in specially designed feeders to reduce spillage, but I find that the goldfinches are just as drawn to black-oil sunflower which is easier to serve and much less expensive. I’ve fed flocks of well over a hundred of the little finches when snow is on the ground, and they faithfully empty my feeders every day. One of my favorite things about having them around is in the springtime when they start calling in their sweet little voices, “Yoo-hoo! Yoo-hoo!”
Bright yellow breeding plumage will molt to drab yellow-gray as the days get frostier and the birds seek out winter food and water sources. There will be even more of them this year, with the summer’s fledglings, and next spring the chorus of “Yoo-hoo’s!” will be even merrier.
First responders get crash course on PSE
A group of 35 fire volunteers and emergency responders from Klickitat County turned out to an open house at Puget Sound Energy’s Goldendale generating facility last week.
The idea was to familiarize crews with the facility so they would know what to do in an emergency.
The session allowed the company to continue to “expand and enhance its planning and emergency preparedness,” according to plant manager Gerald Klug.
The facility employs 16 workers who operate the plant 24 hours a day. |
