Welcome to the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association

The Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association website is a comprehensive source of information for anyone interested in goats—from commercial dairies to hobby farmers to 4-H and FFA students.

Greetings from WDGA President  Randy Adamson

I'm writing this the evening of the first major snowstorm of the season, and what a storm it was!  We had over 15 inches of wet snow this morning and now it's suppose to get very cold and windy.  Winter comes to Wisconsin every year, yet it seems we are never ready for it.  Today I was pushing snow and hitting stuff I was "going to pick up before it snows".  Why do we always think there is still time to get ready for winter?  I still have water tanks that need heaters installed, doors & windows that need to be closed and/or covered and "stuff" to pick up.  So you can guess what I did all day besides plow snow. 

      I hope 2009 was a good year for all of you.  I hope your breeding program worked as planned and you were blessed with some very nice kids last spring.  If you are one of the many WDGA members who attended ADGA shows I hope you did well in the show ring.

      I know it was a difficult year for some with job lay-offs and if you were affected, I hope things are looking better for you.  Tough times are when friends are needed the most.  If you know someone who is going through a difficult time call the, it will mean so much.  Goats have a way of bringing friends together and helping to make new ones. 

A quick "year in review" for WDGA includes:

·        The WDGA "Badger State Show" held in Portage was well attended; we just need to work on making it more profitable.

·        The video promoting Wisconsin's Dairy Goat Industry is complete and we are looking for suggestions on where to market it and also where it should be shown.

·        The Fall Conference held in October was very successful with over 225 attending from 6 States plus Canada.

·        The Select Sale animals sold very well, averaging over $400 each.

·        A new fundraiser this year was the Doe Kid Raffle and we sold over $1800 worth of tickets.  Not bad for it's first year!

·        The WDGA Newsletter was entered in the newsletter competition at the National ADGA Convention and won 3^rd place.  Good job Chris Leischer.

       Fall elections were held and we have several new board members.  Retiring this year, as board members are Angel McPherson, Chris Leischer, and Greg Brackett.  They will be greatly missed.  Thank you for your time and service to WDGA.  I look forward to working with the following new board members in 2010.

              Andrew Glaser, our new Treasurer.  Andrew is very business minded and I'm sure he will do a great job for WDGA

              Jane Schwartz, our new Newsletter Editor.  Jane is so creative, I am very excited to see what she does with the newsletter.

              Les Reeck, our new Director.  Les is in touch with many WDGA members and should bring a strong voice to the board meetings.

        The Board of Directors will meet several times this winter, so if you have suggestions, thoughts or concerns that you would like the board to talk about please let us know.

         In closing, Mary and I wish all of you a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas.  We feel so blessed and thankful to have so many friends in the goat world.

      Take care and keep warm,

                                                                      Randy