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Those of you familiar with goat producers know they love to visit other goat farms and talk goat business with other goat producers. Realizing this, the Alabama Farmers Federation Meat Goat and Sheep Division arranged for a tour of goat farms in South-Central Tennessee where some of the biggest and best goat farms are located, just a thirty minute drive from the Alabama state line.

The tour of three goat farms took place on October 29, and thirty producers from all over Alabama came to see what Tennessee had to offer. After all, Tennessee has the second largest goat population,

Myrna Dutcher, right, tells Robert Spencer, facilities manager of the Agribition Center of Alabama, A&M University, that bread is used to tame the goats.

with Texas having the greatest numbers. Everyone was impressed with what they saw at all three farms.

The first farm visited was M & M Boer Goats, located just west of Fayetteville, owned by Myrna Dutcher, who is originally from the Philippines but has lived here for over twenty years. A long time ago, while still living in the Philippines, she met Marty Dutcher (recently deceased) while he was doing missionary work. After they married, she moved back to the states with him. At that time he was also an engineer with NASA but retired a few years later to raise race horses. After switching enterprises, they began raising fighting chickens and exported them all over the world. In the early 1990s, Marty took notice of the emerging goat industry and switched to raising Boer goats.

While visiting the M & M Boer Farm, the tour enjoyed feeding bread to some of the goats.

Myrna has a BS degree in Agriculture from the University of the Philippines and had done Extension work while there, so farming comes naturally to her. As Marty’s health began to deteriorate during recent years, Myrna assumed more and more responsibility for taking care of the goats. Since her husband’s death in April of this year, she has managed the entire farm by herself, which includes record keeping, fence work, trimming the goats’ hooves, deworming and vaccinating all the goats and whatever else is needed on the farm. While that may sound easy, you must know she has anywhere from 150 to 300 goats on the farm at any given time, and does all this without any extra help.

Marty and Myrna had always been aware of the importance of genetics when managing the breeding program for their goats. Today she has at least four different bloodlines originating from some very impressive farms. While she doesn’t show her goats, she does raise show quality goats, but primarily she raises breeding stock, and good breeding stock at that. Myrna takes the culls to one of several local auctions.

Based upon the excellent records she keeps, Myrna can tell you when the goats were last wormed, vaccinated, how many times the does have kidded, how many kids each nanny has produced and what sexes, who the sire was of each, and what bloodlines they come from. Not only is Myrna an impressive worker and a prime example of an excellent farm manager, but she raises some impressive goats!

She has continued the operation with a spirit of determination to succeed in spite of the emotional obstacles that beset all of those who lose a loved one. She copes by continuing to fulfill her and her husband’s dreams.

The second farm visited was Ervin Farm, located
just outside of Lynchburg. While Lynchburg may be
well known for its Jack Daniels Distillery, Glen Ervin (owner of Ervin Farm) has also made the town well known for the source of his prized Boer goats. People travel from all over the Southeast to buy his award-winning goats. Ervin Farm has anywhere from three hundred to six hundred goats on it at any given time.

Glen grew up on the farm he lives on; it was originally a dairy farm and he maintained it as a dairy farm until the early 1990s when he (like Marty Dutcher)

The Alabama goat producers listen as Glen Ervin talks about his genetics program on their tour of Ervin Farm.

noticed the goat industry was really beginning to take off. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Glen was able to take advantage of the government buy-out of dairy cattle then used that money to begin buying Boer goats. Glen used his experience from years of raising dairy cattle by applying it to raising goats. He purchased goats from other successful producers, produced his own goats, and went to Texas to buy more goats. Then he brought them back to Tennessee and implemented them into his herd. Glen Ervin now produces goats that are sought out by anyone having an appreciation for good genetics.

Not only does Glen allow his goats to reproduce naturally he also utilizes embryo flush and transfer to enhance the genetic quality of his show quality stock. For over four years he has utilized experts who would come to his farm to spend a few days while they flushed fertilized eggs from donor does and transplanted them to recipient does where the embryos develop into baby goats. This method is an excellent way to increase the production of his best genetics while utilizing the recipient does as host. The nannies never know that these babies are really not theirs, but raise them as if they are.

Due to the high value of these newborn goats, Glen has a ‘kidding house’ where he stays when all his does are going into labor. The house is equipped with a monitor and his kidding barn is equipped with cameras so Glen and his wife, Vivian, can monitor the nannies while they are in labor in case there are any complications with the kidding process of any doe. When you are producing show goats via natural breeding or through the latest technology, you want to insure the success of your efforts!

Despite what many of you readers may have expected, the tour group did not visit the Jack Daniels Distillery, nor did they sample the goods while in the area (it is located in a dry county, figure that). Instead they enjoyed lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House, a world famous restaurant that serves some of the best food found anywhere. The restaurant existed since the early 1900s and has fed hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world. A meal must be booked several months in advance and they only serve lunch six days, Monday through Saturday. However, they do serve two lunches, each consisting of three meats, 6 side dishes, drinks and desserts. And yes, the baked apples do contain Jack Daniels Whiskey, and they are the best! Look at the picture below to see some satisfied customers.

Hidden Hills Farms gets their name from the Tennessee hills that surround the farm. However, the Parolinis discovered that goats grow well in this rocky landscape.

The final visit was to Hidden Hollow Farm in Belfast, about thirty minutes north of Fayetteville. The farm is owned by Sam Parolini, who was out of town the day of the visit; but Jerry Nichols, Operations Manager, Johnny Riddley, Farm Foreman, and Angela Beasley, Animal Inspector and Care Taker, were gracious hosts who filled in for Sam. Hidden Hollow Farm is the largest goat operation in Tennessee. They offer four types of goats (Boer, Kiko, Tennessee Fainting Goat, and Spanish) with full bloods, purebred, and high quality percentages. If you are looking for meat goats or breeding stock, Hidden Hollow Farm has goats for you, and guard dogs too.

Sam delved into the meat goat business about seven years ago when he began buying some of the best genetics from across the country. Today they have around two thousand, yes 2000, goats on 900+ acres and have plans to continue expanding their operation to 5000 goats. They use state-of-the-art equipment and computer programs to record and track each goat’s identity, medications, birthrates, breeding records, and other important information, ensuring up-to-date data on each goat at all times.

Goat farming is not Sam’s primary occupation; he owns and operates a construction firm that builds factories, hospitals, schools, etc. throughout the Southeast. His firm also performs asbestos mitigation in existing buildings. So the construction business is what allows him to "support his goat habit." Visitors are always welcome at Hidden Hollow Farm, and you will be amazed at what you see.

Although the tour only involved three farms and lunch, it was a full day. It began at 7:30 a.m. when they left downtown Fayetteville and ended at 4 p.m. when the group returned to their hotel. All farms were within thirty minutes of each other but everyone wanted to spend as much time as possible on each. Such an occasion provided priceless opportunities to learn how each farm owner/operation manages their farm in a way that best utilizes their resources and meets the goals of their farm plan.

Robert Spencer is Agribition Center Facilities Manager at Alabama A&M University.

As you can see, the tour group did not go hungry. One of the meals they enjoyed was lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House in Lynchburg.