The Role of Goat Milk in the Milk Industry
Does goat milk have a role in a changing dairy landscape?
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As the demand for diverse dairy options evolves, farmers in the milk industry have an opportunity to expand into the market for goat milk.
Dairy goats provide a dietary staple for many communities worldwide, yet in the U.S., drinking goat milk is still foreign to many. With only about 415,000 dairy goats in the country, according to the 2024 USDA census, goat milk accounts for less than 1% of the nation’s dairy consumption.
But this small niche isn’t without room to grow.
As the dairy aisle becomes more diversified to accommodate the 36% of consumers with some form of intolerance to traditional cow milk, goat milk could appeal to those opting for authentic dairy options over the plethora of plant-based alternatives.
A 2017 article in the Journal of Dairy Science found global goat milk production has more than doubled in recent decades. Market trends suggest that by 2030, global production will increase by another 53%. If those numbers were to translate to the U.S., that would be a very modest increase of only another half percent in the U.S. due to the already low production numbers.
While the goat milk niche may be growable in the milk industry, it faces significant domestic barriers along the road to retail shelf space, including consumer familiarity and significant costs associated with market entry.
A Solution to Dairy Indigestion
U.S. consumers of goat milk tend to turn to it because they encounter digestive difficulties with conventional cow milk. And the relief they claim to find is backed by science, as goat milk’s unique composition may make it more tolerable.
The fat globules in goat milk are significantly smaller and contain shorter-chain fatty acids.
“The smaller fat globules in goat milk are more easily broken down by the body,” explains Carlos Alvarado Carrasco, a dairy product specialist at Langston University, “making it easier to digest than cow milk.”
The various proteins in goat milk are also structured differently than in cow milk. For example, goat milk naturally contains very little or no alpha S1 casein protein. This reduced alpha S1 casein content makes goat milk less allergenic and is a critical factor in why it causes fewer digestive problems for some individuals.
Another milk protein worth noting is beta-casein, which appears in two forms — A1 and A2. Some brands exclusively use milk from cows with the A2A2 genotype. This is marketed as being more friendly to people with forms of lactose intolerance, as some studies have shown that A2 milk is more digestible due to it being broken down into smaller peptides during the digestion process.
Goat milk is mostly A2 with little to no A1. However, Carrasco notes, this plays a comparatively more minor role in its overall digestibility. It’s important to highlight that individual responses to milk proteins can vary, and other factors beyond casein types may influence tolerance.
“Some research suggests that goat milk may be less allergenic than cow milk due to the absence or reduced content of some types of proteins,” says Carrasco. “However, more studies are needed to confirm this.”
Additionally, goat milk contains bioactive compounds, such as immunoglobulins, which can support the immune system. Carrasco also points to some reports indicating minerals present in goat milk, including calcium and phosphorus, may be more bioavailable.
The Gauntlet to Retail Stores
Even though research has shown goat milk is more digestible, there’s another barrier keeping would-be consumers away from goat milk beyond unfamiliarity. It’s also tied to significant limitations for would-be producers.
Most retailers only carry one brand of goat milk, and that’s sufficient to meet their needs — for now. If that were to increase, only a very small handful of goat dairies in the milk industry are Grade A certified for fluid milk.
Summerhill Goat Dairy in central California is among the very few selling fluid milk in retail stores across the country. Owner Anneke de Jong cites far less water consumption per animal compared to dairy cows as a big asset to her multi-breed herd of 2,600 milking goats.
Over 20 years ago, de Jong and her husband, Johnnie, purchased their first farm with an onsite Grade A processing facility. While the majority of U.S. goat milk goes for cheese, the de Jongs were fortunate to get their fluid milk placed with a couple of national retail distributors.
Having processing on-site was a major boon to their success.
“Our milk isn’t getting shipped all over the place before it gets bottled,” says de Jong. “We’ve been able to provide a very high quality, consistent source, which has built such a good connection with where we’re selling.”
Costs of Starting
Creating an on-site, fully licensed, and inspected facility for processing Grade A milk is no easy task for a farmer to build from the ground up. According to a 2019 estimate by Tennessee State University, a facility up to spec for goat milk and cheese handling is $463,900 in startup equipment costs alone.
Space is another major concern. The more familiar side of the U.S. goat dairy sector — cheese production — is a prime example. De Jong explains that in the 1970s and 1980s, some of the major artisan goat cheese labels were started in her home state. Like many other food industries, consolidation took place.
“What makes me sad is that a lot of the artisan cheeses coming out of California are no longer owned by local U.S. companies, family farms, or the people who founded them. They’ve been bought up by big, foreign companies,” she says. “It makes the industry less local and more multinational, and that consolidation can really limit opportunities for smaller, independent producers to find space on retail shelves.”
Benefits and Future of the Goat Milk Industry
Despite these challenges, something that de Jong enjoys about the goat milk industry is the independence they have in setting their own prices, marketing, and promotion. Unlike conventional cow milk, goat farmers don’t have mandatory payments to promotional checkoff programs. This adds a bit of flexibility for goat dairy farmers and cheesemakers if they are able to enter the market.
Producers like Summerhill Goat Dairy have demonstrated that success is possible with strategic investments and partnerships, but for the broader goat milk industry to thrive, it will require greater consumer education and more accessible pathways to market entry. As the demand for diverse dairy options continues to evolve, farmers have an opportunity to carve out a unique place for goat milk in the American diet — if they can navigate the complex road ahead.
JACLYN DE CANDIO is a professional agriculture writer, communications specialist, and farmer. A member of the Ohio Farm Bureau and the Agriculture Communicators Network, she lives in southwest Ohio with her husband and children where they operate Latria Livestock Co., feeding out market kids and lambs.
SOURCES:
- USDA Sheep and Goat Inventory released January 1, 2024 https://downloads.USDA.Library.Cornell.edu/usdaesmis/files/000000018/b8517891v/zw130s885/shep0124.pdf
- Country, regional, and global estimates for lactose malabsorption in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis https://PubMed.NCBI.nlm.nih.gov/28690131/
- A 100-Year Review: Advances in goat milk research https://PubMed.NCBI.nlm.nih.gov/29153153/
- Summerhill Goat Dairy https://SummerHillDairy.com/
- Taking A Closer Look at Value-Added Dairy Opportunities Workshop – December 19, 2019 https://utia.Tennessee.edu/cpa/wp-content/uploads/sites/106/2020/10/On-Farm-Milk-Processing-Costs-HP.pdf
Originally published in the March/April 2025 digital issue of Goat Journal
