Tennessee Goat Farms Produce High-Quality Meat and Cheese
This article first appeared in Tennessee Home & Farm.
When it comes to agriculture, Tennessee’s top products include cattle, soybeans, corn and broiler chickens. But did you know the Volunteer State ranks second in the nation for its production of meat goats?
Dairy goats are also on the rise in Tennessee, with many producers turning goat’s milk into value-added products such as cheese, yogurt and soap. Read on as two Tennessee goat farmers share more about this lesser-known livestock sector.
See more: Get to Know Vermont Creamery, the Company That Brought Goat Cheese to America
Silver Cross Farm
After Ron Cheatham and his wife, Chris, both got out of the Navy in 1974, they bought a small patch of land in Weakley County near Martin and began dreaming about the future.
“I was 24 at the time and had crazy ideas of how to make money with a 21-acre farm,” says Ron Cheatham, now 73. “We started from scratch with nothing. I had the bright idea I was going to raise quarter horses, but I could see real quick I didn’t have pockets deep enough to get into quarter horses, so we got out of that.”
Next, the couple purchased cattle, but realized they didn’t have enough acreage to make a profit.
“It feels like Christmas morning any time you go out and see the little babies running around. It’s amazing to watch them grow and thrive.”
– Ron Cheatham, Silver Cross Farm
“I had owned goats years ago, back when you could buy a goat for $5 or $10,” Cheatham says. “In the ’90s, I got interested in Boer goats because they were nice looking animals. So I bought a few brush goats and one Boer buck from a friend.”
That was the beginning of Silver Cross Farm. Over the next 25 years, the Cheathams expanded their herd, crossbreeding goats of increasingly better quality to improve their offspring.
“My daddy raised dairy cattle and always said crossbred cows were the best. They did better most of the time because they had that hybrid vigor to them,” Cheatham says, referring to the tendency of crossbred animals to possess superior quality to their parents. “Every time I changed bucks, I kept improving my goat herd, keeping only the best of the best. I could see the improvement in each generation.”
Silver Cross Farm sells goats for meat at the bimonthly Sheep and Goat Sale at the United Producers sale barn in Columbia as well as at an auction in Salem, Arkansas. On average, the couple has between 30 and 40 crossbred Boer and Savanna goats on the farm at a time. Goats typically go to market when they are 90 days old and weigh between 55 and 60 pounds.
“I take a lot of pride in my goats. I like to see those guys unload them at the sale barn and smile. They say, ‘I can tell these guys have been well fed,’” Cheatham says. “I produce them for the top price at the time. Prices fluctuate but are generally higher in spring due to the Islamic holidays and Cinco de Mayo. It’s all about supply and demand.”
Even though he earns money from his goats, Cheatham says he’s “mostly in it for fun.”
“It feels like Christmas morning any time you go out and see the little babies running around. It’s amazing to watch them grow and thrive,” he says. “I get a lot of comments from people how pretty my goats are, and I work hard at it. I spend three to five hours a day out at the barn keeping it clean.”
In addition to sending goats to market, Cheatham sometimes sells goats to local 4-H members in Weakley and Henry counties for livestock shows.
Recipe: Honey-Bacon Goat Cheese Dip
Noble Springs Dairy
In Franklin, Dustin and Justyne Noble own Noble Springs Dairy, a Grade A goat dairy and artisanal goat cheese-making operation that was licensed in 2009. The couple started with about 50 goats and has grown their herd to more than 150 goats representing four breeds – Alpine, Saanen, Toggenburg and Nubian. Each goat has its own name and personality. The Nobles’ children, Brynlee, 8, and Bryant, 5, help with tasks such as bottle-feeding the baby goats, called “kids.”
“When I was an infant, I was allergic to cow’s milk and formula, so my parents got goats and milked them to feed me and my brother,” says Dustin Noble. “My parents later gave me some of my own registered dairy goats when I was in elementary school, so I’ve been raising dairy goats since 1990. I’ve always had an interest in food production and agriculture.”
After getting a degree in animal science and ag business at the University of Tennessee, Noble decided to start a goat dairy to make cheese. The Nobles also use goat’s milk to make yogurt and soap. They sell their products wholesale to retail locations and restaurants across Tennessee as well as at the Franklin Farmers Market.
“We primarily make chèvre, and we also make feta. Our chèvre comes in a variety of flavors, including plain, garlic herb, pimento, cherry berry and chipotle,” Noble says.
Noble Springs’ products have gained a large following in the Nashville area, especially among health-conscious customers who appreciate locally sourced foods.
“My favorite thing about our business is connecting with people and seeing their reaction when they try our cheese,” Noble says. “Some people have mixed feelings about goat cheese and may not have had a great experience with it before, but people seem to really like our products. It’s nice to get positive feedback for something we spend so much time to produce.”
Dairy farming is a round-the-clock job with goats needing to be milked twice daily at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m., and a continuous flow of milk needing to be processed.
See more: 5 Goat Breeds You May Not Be Familiar With
“It’s a lot of hard work and with a dairy, you don’t get a break,” Noble says. “But I enjoy getting to work outside and raising our family here so they can learn about agriculture and food production.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noble Springs began focusing on agritourism, welcoming visitors to their picturesque farm to interact with the goats, tour the creamery and learn about the cheese-making process. The dairy is open every Saturday for tours and goat petting from March through November. Noble Springs recently added a popular monthly live music event called Goats & Guitars featuring musicians from the Nashville area.
“We make cheese boards for people to purchase when they come, and we are thinking about adding food trucks in the future,” Noble says.