DREAMGOATS

6206 Ada Drive SE
Ada, MI 49301
616.780.7401
DREAMGOATS.COM

Dreamgoats a community-run goat farm providing milk to our herdshare owners, husbandry skills to our milkmaids, and goatmilk soap, workshops, and hikes to the greater community. Currently, we raise our growing goat herd at elementary schools in Ada.

What is your farm’s philosophy?
Dreamgoats is telling a new story about dairy farming—a story of the transformation of wild, invasive forage into creamy milk--as well as story of intimacy between humans and animals.

I hope that everyone who meets the herd will start to think more expansively about food production and want to interact with it in some way. Whether they are stirred to question their own consumption or just become more curious about how farming works, I hope the goats can be a sort of farm-theatre, and that folks will become curious about their relationship with agriculture--as curious as the goats are about them.

What do you raise?
We raise healthy, strong, curious Nubian goats on pasture. Our goats are owned by community members who pick up milk from their herdshare each week from May-December. We also sell goatmilk soap by the bar, season, or annual subscription.

Where can we find your products?
Herdshare pickups are on the Ada farm or on the westside of Grand Rapids. Soap is sold online and at herd hike events. 

What would you say are your biggest challenges currently?:
The spikes of warm temps have been really difficult this winter. I’ve never experienced a bout of pneumonia like this; it spread through the entire herd, causing the milking season to end a few weeks early.

What are you looking forward to in the seasons to come?
Though one can never have enough baby goats… I look forward to improving herd genetics, making more soap, bettering my cheesemaking skills, and expanding Dreamgoats’ educational programming. I’m working on a grant right now from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education branch of the USDA, so more dreamy stuff to come! 

What do you want consumers to know about you?:
Dreamgoats is my passion. It’s the expression of how I want to live, how I want to buy, and who I want to support. The goats are my balm, tether, and what get me up in the morning. They have taught me many new skills and crafts, bolstered my confidence, and utilized my entire body and mind. They’ve brought so many lovely people into my life and helped me see the world in a more hopeful and interesting way. As a millenial, many of my peers are seeking sexier cities and feeling stuck and bored. I am stubbornly insistent that there is more to HERE than we give it credit for. Dreamgoats is a rebellion and also a return—to the Ada woods I grew up in, and to a simpler way of life—one less about cash flow and more about grass growing and tree planting and the long game.

Why are you a member of the WM Growers Group?:
I’ve been a participant in WMGG since its genesis in 2012. I’m proud to be part of this group of amazing growers. It’s encouraging to meet other local folks making their farm dreams come true.