Dairy Goat Benchmarking Project to Improve Herd Health, Welfare, and Productivity

Commodities

• Animals: goats
• Animal Products: dairy

Practices

• Animal Production: animal protection and health
• Education and Training: decision support system, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research

Project Focus:

Goat dairy producers are a growing sector of the Northeast dairy industry and include both farmstead creameries and farms shipping bulk milk to a processor. Despite this growth, many goat dairy producers have limited access to technical assistance, decision-support tools, and peer learning opportunities that are specific to goat production systems. Compared to other livestock sectors, dairy goats have received less sustained investment in applied research and Extension programming in the Northeast, leaving producers with few regionally relevant resources to support management decisions.

Goat dairy producers consistently report concerns related to animal health and welfare, kid rearing, milk quality, and overall production efficiency, as well as uncertainty about how their herd performance compares to similar farms. These challenges directly affect farm profitability, labor efficiency, and quality of life, and can limit producers' ability to steward animals and resources sustainably. Without access to species-specific information and opportunities to learn from peers facing similar conditions, producers have limited capacity to evaluate their operations, identify opportunities for improvement, or confidently implement management changes. Addressing these needs is increasingly important as producers seek to meet market expectations while maintaining animal well-being and long-term farm viability.

Solution and Approach:

This project will address these needs through complementary educational and research components that center farmer experience, peer learning, and regionally relevant data. The educational component will engage goat dairy producers across the Northeast in facilitated peer-to-peer learning groups led by a small ruminant expert. Monthly virtual sessions will create a trusted, producer-centered environment for sharing experiences, discussing management challenges, and identifying practical solutions related to goat-specific health, welfare, and production topics. Peer learning is a proven strategy for increasing producer confidence and adoption of management practices, particularly when learning occurs among farmers operating comparable systems. Farmer engagement will be sustained through ongoing participation in peer learning groups, individualized feedback and consultation, and structured follow-up interviews.

The research component will complement this educational approach by collecting on-farm data from participating Vermont goat dairies and organizing those data into regionally relevant benchmarks for herd health, welfare, and production outcomes. Benchmarking is widely used in other livestock sectors but remains largely unexplored in dairy goats, making this project innovative in both species focus and application. Benchmark reports will provide producers with meaningful context for evaluating their operations and identifying opportunities to improve animal well-being, efficiency, and management practices.

This project aligns with Northeast SARE's legislated priorities by promoting animal well-being, supporting informed stewardship of farm resources through improved management efficiency, reduced disease-related losses, and enhanced farm viability and resilience. By improving decision-making capacity and fostering farmer networks, the project contributes to economic sustainability, quality of life, and long-term resilience within Northeast agricultural communities.

By the end of the project,16 goat dairy producers in the Northeast will implement at least one management change impacting 500 animals across all 16 producers. The management change will be informed by structured peer-learning with expert facilitation which leads to measurable improvements in efficiency, animal health, or cost savings as documented through post-program and follow-up interviews.