A couple of goat farmers from Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge are starting to produce raw milk cheese.
Jean-François Larche, a Montrealer, and his wife Nicola Cunha, originally from India but having grown up in Saudi Arabia and lived in England, Texas, Ontario and British Columbia, have had a very unusual journey.
The first one studied communication and made movie sets while the other one worked in restaurants and for caterers.
“We met in 2001 on a movie set. Then, in 2006, we opened a restaurant in Cumberland, on the east side of Vancouver Island. We were sourcing from local farms, mostly organic, and it gave us a taste for living in the country and raising animals for our own consumption,” says Larche.
In 2011, he chose to return to Quebec after 15 years of absence, to be closer to his parents who were retiring. He and his wife continued to work remotely for a web company specializing in SEO.
In 2012, a year after leaving British Columbia, the couple finally sold their Vancouver property and found a 17-acre farmhouse in Brome-Missisquoi.
“We had piglets, donkeys, lambs, geese, ducks, guinea fowl, laying hens and decided to do everything ourselves: breeding, slaughtering, butchering and cold storage,” summarizes the 45-year-old farmer.
From hobby to full time job
In 2014, the couple inherited six kids, including a female, which they rushed to breed. The first milestones of breeding were set!
“Initially, we wanted to raise goats for meat, but we eventually decided to take our passion for animals and turn it into a livelihood,” Larche summarizes.
The Notre-Dame-de-Stanbridge farm now has 30 milking goats, 12 kids and two billy goats of different breeds.
“The Alpine and Saanen are hardy and acclimatize well to the cold of our Quebec winters while the Nubians are more fragile. However, the latter have the advantage of being calm, having a good temperament and providing a milk rich in proteins and fats”, says Mr. Larche.
The Cunha-Larche couple first thought of specializing in milk production, but eventually realized that a herd of 200 goats would be necessary to achieve their goals.
“We concluded that it was easier to make our breeding profitable by processing. A visit to a farm in the Sherbrooke area convinced us that our cheese factory project made sense and that the milk from our herd could meet the needs of our production,” continues the co-owner of the Fromagerie Cornes et Sabots.
The 30 goats of the two producers currently produce 60 liters per day. With the 12 kids entering lactation next year, the daily production will increase to more than 80 liters.
“By 2020, our dairy goats should be producing 100 liters per day for ten months. We will suspend milking two months before the births, from Christmas to the end of February,” says Larche.
Source: https://www.laveniretdesrivieres.com/2018/08/15/dame-de-stanbridge-deux-neo-ruraux-produiront-fromage-de-chevre/