Building a better goat

ORFORDVILLE, Wis. — It was a long-ago 4-H project that lit the path for Korey Statton’s present-day career.

“I started with showing two goats and just kind of went from there and made a life out of it,” Korey said.

Korey and his wife, Bobbi, and their daughters, Ellsie and Ida, milk 95 goats at Early Rise Acres near Orfordville. Bobbi also works off the farm as an agricultural appraiser for Compeer Financial.

Korey transitioned from a show herd to shipping milk in 2015.

“I showed locally in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, and it got to a point where I had to downsize or go for it and ship milk,” Korey said.

Korey’s parents were not farmers, but farm life was ingrained in him through his grandpa and uncle who farmed together.

“Farming was something I was always going to do one way or the other,” Korey said. “If I would have had the opportunity to take over a cow farm, I would probably be milking cows. But I already had a herd of goats, so it made sense to go this route. There’s low overhead.”

Korey began by milking 60 goats and has milked up to 120.

“That’s all we can handle,” he said. “We don’t want to get bigger.”

Goats are milked twice a day in a swing-8 parlor. Korey does most of the milking with help from a high school student, Porter Maliszewski.  Average peak milk production is over 9 pounds, with goats leveling out at about 7-8 pounds per day. The milk is shipped to Saputo.

“Our goal is 10 pounds a day, and we’re getting there,” Korey said. “Our long-term goal is to make more milk with fewer goats.”

The herd contains Alpine, Saanen, Oberhasli, Toggenburg and Nubian breeds. All goats are registered and have a name.

“I’ve had registered dairy goats for 25 years,” Korey said.

Genetics are his passion, as Korey said he studies pedigrees and looks to make improvements in his herd.

“I like to fix things,” he said. “I breed a doe to a certain buck to correct a particular trait. I’m always trying to build a better goat.”

Focused on longevity and herd health, Korey’s breeding goals have remained steady.

“A long productive life is most important,” he said. “Correct type and production are priorities, and I still like to breed for goats that I can take to a show and do well with. We like quality over quantity. I want to breed goats that I like to look at every day. I also need them to milk well and hold up for several lactations.”

Early Rise Acres is home to approximately 15 breeding bucks. Korey also does a lot of A.I. breeding.

“We hand breed everything,” he said.

Korey markets his genetics across the U.S. and beyond, selling a lot of breeding stock, show goats and dairy replacements.

“We’ve even exported goats to Barbados,” he said.

Korey breeds some of his best does via A.I. to introduce new genetics into the herd.

“When I showed a lot, we attended several national shows and always placed in the top 10 and had several first-place and national class winners,” Korey said. “In 2017, we had a national champion. It’s always kind of nice to see all your hard work paying off.”

Korey has also seen that hard work pay off for others who purchased goats that he bred.

“It’s fun to sell good breeding stock, and we enjoy seeing people show our stock and be successful,” Bobbi said.

Korey agreed.

“It’s just as rewarding as if we went to the show ourselves,” he said.

Korey continues to show but at a much smaller scale.

“I used to do 8-10 shows a year; now I’m lucky if I do two,” he said. “As the herd got bigger, it’s hard to keep showing.”

Korey continues to exhibit in the open show at the Boone County Fair. This year, he had the grand champion and best of breed Oberhasli and the grand champion Saanen. Korey also judges goat shows at county fairs.

“There are so many people who helped me get started and gave good advice,” Korey said. “Now it’s kind of my turn to do it.”

Korey worked off the farm for a long time while getting his dairy operation off the ground and adding other enterprises. There was not much more than an old barn on the property, so the Stattons built up the farm’s infrastructure as they grew goat numbers.

“I was selling feed until there was too much to do here, and then I went full time on the farm about nine years ago,” Korey said.

An Airbnb rental on the farm provides additional income for the family while giving people a taste of country life.

“When Bobbi wanted to do it, I thought no one would come, but it’s booked almost every day of the week,” Korey said.

The Statton family has welcomed people from all over the world, including as far away as Ireland, Japan and Singapore.

“They come from anywhere you can dream of,” Korey said. “We’ve met a lot of really nice people. People want to be on the farm.”

Guests can choose their level of involvement, with some wanting to fully immerse themselves in the operation. For example, an 11-year-old boy from Japan was in the barn every day at 6 a.m. to help with milking.

“We wanted to give people who don’t have experience with a farm the opportunity to spend time on a working farm,” Bobbi said. “It wasn’t to make money. We like that people can see it firsthand.”

The Stattons also have a small herd of Shorthorn beef cattle, over 100 laying hens and a farm stand selling produce from their garden. Bottling milk is a future idea swirling in their heads.

“We’re diversified,” Korey said. “We’re doing all kinds of things. Nothing really ever holds us back.”