Dairy Goat Management Seminar to Discuss Healthy Herds, Profitable Actions

Nov 04, 2025

By Jennifer Bentley

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Dairy Team will host its annual Dairy Goat Management Seminar at two locations in December. The focus of this year’s seminars is healthy herds and profitable practices for dairy goat producers.

The seminars are scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Historical Village Visitors Center in Kalona, located at 715 D Avenue. Additionally, there will be a seminar on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Sioux County Office in Orange City, which is located at 400 Central Avenue NW, Suite 700. A complimentary lunch will be provided thanks to sponsorship from Big Gain, Premier 1 Supplies and Saputo.

“Dairy goat production continues to be a vital part of Iowa’s agricultural landscape,” said Jenn Bentley, dairy field specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. “We’re excited to offer producers a well-rounded educational program focused on herd health, mastitis management, parasite control, record keeping and financial sustainability, delivered by a lineup of experienced presenters committed to providing practical strategies for success.”

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Cleaning Sheep Barns & Setting Up Chutes

Indoor sheep farming in winter at pre-lambing time requires that, at Ewetopia Farms, we need to clean out the barns and manure in order to keep the sheep pens clean, dry and fresh for the pregnant ewes to stay healthy while indoors in confinement. In today’s vlog, we put fresh bedding into all of the barns and we remove manure from the first groups of ewes due to lamb so that they are all ready for lambs being born in the next few days. Also, in preparation for lambing, we moved one of the sorting chutes to the Coveralls with the replacement ewe lambs. This allows us to do sorting and vaccines more easily with them while the barnyard is snow covered and hard to move sheep safely around in. Additionally, it frees up space for the second groups of pregnant ewes where the chute was initially.