Goat Milk
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Fresh Delicious Goat Milk

We have spent many years learning how to produce the finest tasting and most nutritious goat milk possible. Willow Lane Dairy Goats has been on Dairy Herd Improvement Research, (DHIR) testing continuously for the last 14 years and has won National awards for total milk production, as well as butterfat and protein content.
Five of our goats have actually been Top Ten Breed Leaders, which means, that they placed in the top ten of all the goats in their breed in the United States who are on DHIR testing as recorded by the United States Department of Agriculture. All of our goats are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association.

Milk Testing

DHIR milk testing consists of having a certified tester come to the farm and weigh milk produced by each individual goat in two twelve hour periods each month, taking a milk sample from each weigh sample, and submitting the samples to a DHIR laboratory to measure butterfat, protein and somatic cell count. 
Somatic cell count is an indicator of overall udder health. Participating in this program continuously for the past 14 years has helped us to identify goats and lines of goats that have superior milk producing abilities and select for only the finest of milk to be produced on the farm. 
It has been a huge commitment and expense to sample and test milk from each goat every month for the past 14 years but we feel it is one of the best ways we can develop and insure quality control of our milk. In addition to our efforts using DHIR milk testing, we recently invested in an on farm milk microbiology laboratory where milk samples can be cultured immediately to insure that we are producing only the highest quality milk.

We love our goats!
All of our goats have names and receive the highest standard of humane and loving care. One of our most important daily goals is to make their lives happy and enjoyable. We have worked very closely with a veterinarian to design and implement herd health policies that protect the health of our goats. 
We do not allow goats from other herds to stay at our farm nor do we let our herd mingle with other herds at shows and exhibitions. These policies serve to protect our goats from illness and greatly reduce the need to use antibiotics on our farm. 

Restricted use of Antibiotics

When we do use antibiotics it is only under the direct recommendation of a veterinarian to treat one of our beloved goats for an illness. We believe that our goats and all animals should benefit from the discovery of antibiotics for treating illness, and we ONLY use them under those circumstances. 

Strict antibiotic administration guidelines are always followed to insure that the milk is never contaminated with antibiotics. Milk from goats that are ill or that are being treated is discarded. We don't use ANY unnatural hormones, or rBST (Bovine Growth Hormone) in the production of our milk. We don't use any additives, preservatives, artificial colors, or artificial flavorings in ANY of our products.

Our thoughts on raw milk

USDA's Position Paper on Sale/Consumption of Raw Milk

One of the Goals of Drake Family Farms is:

To produce the World's Finest, safe, wholesome food products, free of: antibiotics, pesticides, preservatives, hormones, artificial colors, and artificial flavorings.

In the past we had a policy that stated:

We do not sell raw milk BECAUSE; The official position of the American Veterinarian Medical Association is that all milk for human consumption should be pasteurized. This position was proposed and accepted by Veterinarians and is based on sound scientific facts that goats and cows no matter how healthy they appear can be shedding infectious diseases that are contagious to humans in their milk. 
These are called Zoonotic diseases. Yes, it is true that our goats are very healthy. In fact we take EXTREME precautions to protect the health of our goats and test our goats routinely for several goat diseases to make sure they do not have these diseases. If you were to compare our herd health programs and biosecurity programs with those of other goat dairies in the country we would rank as extremely concerned and cautious about the health of our goats. 
But even with all these tests and precautions we cannot be sure that ALL our goats are free of EVERY disease.  One of the reasons for this is MANY of the zoonotic diseases do not have reliable tests available to determine if goats have the disease, are shedding the disease in their milk, or if they have even been exposed and/or gained immunity to the particular disease.

Most healthy humans can drink raw milk containing pathogens and not get sick. BUT, since many of our customers are babies or people that are immunocompromized we have decided that we cannot accept the risk that EVEN ONE baby or person might get a zoonotic disease. We do not want to take the risk with your health and therefore heat-treat/pasteurize all our milk to make sure it is safe. 

A new policy concerning raw milk:

Still many people that call or visit our farm are very persistent in saying that raw milk is much healthier than pasteurized milk, and they MUST have raw milk for their health needs.  They refuse to even try the pasteurized goat milk and go on searching for raw goat milk that might be available from other sources that are not licensed or inspected by the state.  For this reason we have decided to sell state inspected Grade A raw milk to those individuals but they must read the following Raw milk education hand out and sign a liability waiver. 

Raw Milk Education Handout and Liability Waiver

Pasteurization of milk is regarded as one of the greatest developments in ensuring a safe food supply.  Zoonotic diseases are diseases shared between humans and animals.  Many zoonotic diseases are easily spread by consumption of raw milk.  Historically, pasteurization of cow milk was instituted to prevent the transmission of brucellosis and tuberculosis, but transmission of many other zoonotic diseases is prevented by milk pasteurization as well.  Increases in the recommended temperature for pasteurization at lower temperatures for longer times were changed to prevent the transmission of Coxiella Burnetti, or Q-Fever.  The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) position on pasteurization of milk is as follows; “The AVMA directly and through each of its state and allied associations promotes the passage of state laws requiring pasteurization of all milk to be sold within the state and consumed as fluid milk or to be used in the manufacture of dairy products”.1 The veterinary community knows that many animals infected with zoonotic disease(s) may never become ill, even though they are fully able to pass the infection on to humans, so relying on clinical signs to develop in the animal as a sign to not drink the milk is not advisable.  The AVMA specifically recommends pasteurization of milk for prevention of the spread of Listeriosis, caused by Listeria Monocytogenes, especially since listeria can multiply at refrigerated temperatures.1 Many of the raw milk certification standards rely on proper refrigeration of milk to prevent bacterial overgrowth of the milk, but, refrigeration will not prevent Listeria from multiplying.

Significant human health risk is associated with consuming raw milk.  A recent increase in the number of human cases of Q-Fever in Bulgaria was linked to the consumption of raw goat milk.2  The mode of infection in a Q-Fever serological investigation study was suspected to be tied to consumption of raw goat’s and cow’s milk.3  Human E. coli O157:H7 infection was associated with consumption of raw goat’s milk.4  Human E. coli  O157:H7 infection was also shown to be associated with the consumption of raw cow’s milk.5  Toxigenic E. coli was shown to be present in cheese made from raw cow’s milk.6  As stated previously many of the individuals who benefit from consumption of goat’s milk are young babies or immunocompromized persons due to cancer therapy or HIV infection, these individuals are at much increased risk for development of zoonotic infections.  Other zoonotic disease agents that could potentially cause infection include: Salmonella, Camphylobacter, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, and Chlamydia.  There may also be other agents that could cause illness that are not mentioned in this document.

References:

  1. Voigt, A. ed. American Veterinary Medical Association Membership Directory and Resource Manual.  Policy and Statement Guidelines.  .  Schaumburg:AVMA; 2000, p.86, 91.
  2. Serbezov, V.S.; Kazar, J.; Novkirishki, V.; Gatcheva, N.; Kovacova, E.; Voynova, V.  Q fever in Bulgaria and Slovakia.  Emerging Infectious Diseases, 1999 May-Jun 5(3):388-94.
  3. Stoilaova, J.; Kamernarova, R.; Troyancheva, M.; A study on Q fever among children hospitalized for pneumonia.  Folia Medica, 1996,  38(3-4):45-50.
  4. Bielaszewska, M.; Janda, J.; Blahova, K.; Minarikova, H.; Jikova, E.; Karmali, M.A.; Laubova, J.; Sikulova, J.; Preston, M.A.; Khakhria, R.; Karch, H.; Klazarova, H.; Nyc, O.  Human Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection associated with the consumption of unpasteurized goat’s milk.  Epidemiology and Infection, 1997 Dec, 119(3):299-305.
  5. Heuvelink, A.E.; Bleumink, B.; van den Biggelaar, F.L.; Te Giffel, M.C.; Beumer, R.R.; de Boer, E.  Occurance and survival of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 in raw cow’s milk in The Netherlands.  Journal of food Protection, 1998 Dec, 61(12):1597-601.
  6. Quinto, E.J.; Cepeda, A.; Incidence of toxigenic Escherichia coli in soft cheese made with raw or pasteurized milk.  Letters in Applied Microbiology, 1997 Apri, 24(4):291-5.

I, _______________________(print name) understand that Drake Family Farms has Pasteurized Goat milk for sale and I  SPECIFICALLY CHOOSE to purchase raw milk instead, fully understanding the risks of consuming raw versus pasteurized milk.  I release Drake Family Farms and all of its affiliates of any and all liability associated with any and all  persons that may become ill from the consumption of  any and all raw milk that I, or any of my family members or agents, obtain from Drake Family Farms.

Date:  __________________________________

Printed name:_____________________________

Address: _________________________________

   _________________________________

Phone:    _________________________________

Signature:________________________________

*Copies of this handout are available in our farm store

We encourage everyone to buy pasteurized milk

If you are trying to decide between consuming raw or pastuerized milk and still have questions and/or doubts please visit the following sites:

  1. Salmonella dublin and Raw Milk Consumption -- California
  2. Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Campylobacter Outbreak Associated with Certified Raw Milk Products -- California
  3. Campylobacteriosis Associated with Raw Milk Consumption -- Pennsylvania
  4. Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Campylobacter Outbreak Associated with Raw Milk Provided on a Dairy Tour -- California 1985
  5. Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infection Associated With Eating Fresh (raw milk) Cheese Curds --- Wisconsin, June 1998
  6. Outbreak of Listeriosis Associated With Homemade (raw milk) Mexican-Style Cheese --- North Carolina, October 2000--January 2001
  7. Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Chronic Diarrhea Associated with Raw Milk Consumption -- Minnesota
  8. Salmonellosis from Inadequately Pasteurized Milk -- Kentucky
  9. Outbreaks in Canada

ALL THIS SICKNESS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED BY PROPERLY PASTEURIZING MILK! PLEASE CHOOSE TO ONLY DRINK PASTEURIZED MILK!