Excerpt from "Farm Life, First Hand" - Rochester Magazine - June 2000
Dancing Winds Farm
With some part-time and seasonal help, Mary Doerr runs a 20-acre goat farm and manages a bed and breakfast. Which is just how she wants it.
Life's path led her to a horticultural degree, a 9 to 5 job in the computer world, jobs as bread baker and sports equipment salesperson and a consultant for Land O' Lakes.
After a near-death experience with a severe chemical reaction, she vowed to take the natural path. In 1985, she and a partner purchased Dancing Winds Farm - where the breeze never seems to stop.
"It has," Mary says, "been an adventure."
The farm produced organic vegetables and herbs before a neighbor launched Mary into the goat business with the gift of two Saanen goats, Ida and Yogurt.
"They are the Holsteins of the goat world," she says.
Later she purchased another goat from a neighbor. In 1986, she went from three to nine goats. The following year she had 27. She was soon, over her head, so to speak, in goat's milk. She purchased a book on cheesemaking and added cheese to her vegetable and herb sales.
Her vegetable distributor tasted a sample of the chevre cheese and said he would buy all she could make. In August, 1987, Mary ran her first batch of cheese and by 1988 was servicing 15 co-ops and eight restaurants. Her 38 goats couldn't keep up with the demand. She purchased goat milk from local farmers. She dissolved the farm
partnership and became the sole propreitor in 1990. At the peak of her production in 1993, she added farm markets and a mail order business. By then she had eight part-time helpers and was making 400 pounds of cheese a week.
By the end of the season in 1994, Mary was, in her own words, "burned out." She decided to take a two-year sabbatical from farming. She worked part-time as a baker, went to Bolivia as a short-term consultant for the dairy company Land O' Lakes. In 1996, she re-evaluated the farm operation to focus on what she liked best-the animals and the people.
"I do direct marketing," she says. "I want to know who my customers are and I love farm markets."
Today, the farm has 14 milkers and produces 100 pounds of cheese a week. Cheese is on a seasonal schedule; goats freshen in March and are dry through the end of December. For the most part, cheese making is from April through December. The farm also sells registered breeding stock.
The tour takes visitors from the goat feeding area (the goats eat a mix of corn, oats, minerals and molasses) to the milking parlor (goats produce 1-1/2 gallons or up to 16 pounds a day).
Bed and Breakfast It took Mary three years to renovate the farmhouse. In 1996, she had friends staying overnight and made breakfast for them. The idea grew, but she wanted the bed and breakfast to be self-sufficient. Her concept was to have a family stay at the farm, enjoy the farm experience, and make their own meals. Today, the B&B has a
large bedroom, a private kitchen stocked with farm fresh eggs, locally produced breads, juices, fruit, spacious living room, and complete bath. It can accommodate four adults and two children.