Summary of Raw Goat Milk Quality Testing 2004

OMAFRA began storing raw goat milk quality data electronically in December 2003. Based on the monthly regulatory test results collected throughout 2004 we are now able to produce some statistics of interest to Ontario producers.

Producer Numbers

Between January and December 2004, 34 goat milk producers exited the Ontario industry. Meanwhile 16 new producers started up milking goats to end the year with a total of 156 active goat milk producers in the province. The gradual overall reduction in numbers of dairy goat farms in the province in 2004 is similar to the trend noted in 2003.

Standard Plate Count (SPC) Results

A number of people have wondered what percentage of goat milk producers can meet the SPC standard of <50,000 (less than 50,000 cfu/ml) consistently throughout the year. From the 186 producers who received monthly regulatory SPC test results in 2004 here is the breakdown:

• 65 producers met the <50,000 standard each month (34.9%)
• 48 producers had only 1 count >50,000 (greater than or equal to 50,000) (25.8%) in 12 months
• 28 producers had 2 counts >50,000 (15.1%) in 12 months
• 21 producers had 3 counts >50,000 (11.3%) in 12 months
• 24 producers had 4-8 counts >50,000 (12.9%) in 12 months
  

The above data includes producers who may have only been actively shipping milk for a few months. The following summary of results includes those producers who have had at least eight regulatory SPC tests in 2004:

• 54 producers met the <50,000 standard each month (36.5%)
• 34 producers had only 1 count >50,000 (23.0%)
• 21 producers had 2 counts >50,000 (14.2%)
• 16 producers had 3 counts >50,000 (10.8%)
• 23 producers had 4-8 counts >50,000 (15.5%)

The percentage of producers who were able to meet the <50,000 SPC standard throughout the year were similar whether we look at regulatory samples from all producers (34.6%) or those samples from producers with at least eight tests in the year (36.5%).

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