Goatober Farmer Profile: Cherrie Nolden

This Goatober goat farm profile features Cherrie Nolden of 1dr Acres Farm in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, where she raises meat goats, along with other livestock. She also has a rich background in academia, doing research focused on goats used for brush clearing.

I’ve heard Cherrie speak at a meat goat producer meeting when I first started raising goats, then later met her through our state-wide grazing organization, GrassWorks. There aren’t many of us in Wisconsin raising meat goats on forage alone, so it was great to connect with her.

She’s a wealth of information when it comes to grazing and goats and have appreciated her willingness to share what’s she’s learned through her work with goats and research as well.

Learn more about Cherrie Nolden

Name: Cherrie Nolden

Farm: 1dr Acres Farm

Location: Dodgeville, WI, the Driftless Area in Southwestern Wisconsin

Raising meat goats, while reducing brush on her farm

Cherrie and her husband have a forage-based, low-input meat goat production system (no grain, no deworming, no kidding assistance, metabolically-efficient, naturally healthy on what grows here, and essentially organic).

We currently have 200 goats and intend to grow the herd to 400-600 does, based on access to more land. Sale of meat goats is our focus for income, and application of our herd to improve the value of our land that is brush-invaded.

Although I’ve done contract browsing in the past, I don’t do that currently but am happy to provide references of good contractors. We are not certified organic because there isn’t a financial reason to complete the extra paperwork, but our herd could qualify if a market for organic goat meat becomes viable.

More about Cherrie’s background with goats and brush management

I’ve been a mentor for goat and sheep brush and weed management contract browsers/graziers since 2010.
I’m a Board director and founding member of the Wisconsin Meat Goat Association, representing the commercial meat goat producer and working on policy priorities in Wisconsin.
I’m part of a SARE grant testing out the virtual fencing system from Norway, NoFence, on goats applied for brush management in Wisconsin.
My Master’s Degree in 2019 was in Agroecology and focused on application of goats for brush control in oak savanna restoration.
My PhD is in-progress and the research was focused on grazing goat and cattle parasite management with an egg-based antibody that I produced by making a vaccine, vaccinating chickens, collecting and testing antibody titers, coproculture of goat and cattle parasites, dosing of the goats with parasites, treatment of the goats with the antibody, and assessment of fecal count changes due to treatment.
I’ve taught about goat and sheep management on pasture, parasite management, nutrition, and LGD training and use, at the Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, and the UW-Madison School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers, and the Wisconsin Dairy Goat Association annual meeting for many years.

About 1dr Acres markets for goat meat and breeding stock

We sell meat goats at auction when they are market-ready. They are typically sent through the Fennimore, WI auction. We don’t have the time to do direct marketing or selling just a few goats at a time to private buyers for meat.
Free educational materials, and links to materials that can be purchased are items that I regularly send out to people who are interested in goat production and targeted grazing. Text (608-477-1981), email wonderacres@yahoo.com, or Facebook Cherrie Nolden are ways to contact me for those materials.
We have breeding-quality bucklings available each fall, from our selections of hardy goats.
We have goat browsing starter herds of wethers available each fall.
Once our herd is up to 400 does, we will have good quality doelings available for breeding stock.

Finding her way into raising goats

My BS degree was in Wildlife Ecology in 2000, and I was very involved in prairie restoration, which primarily focused on cutting and herbiciding brush where it was too thick for fire to be effective. I saw the opportunity of goats for brush management, with the benefit of a valuable product being the outcome (meat) and no need for chemicals or dangerous operation of large equipment in steep landscapes.

So, I bought goats and started conducting research in the Upper Midwest, where data was not available on the application of goats for brush management. In the process I learned about other production limitations with goats and have been working on solving those problems through our goat management and selection process on our farm and through formal research institutions.

As I realized that I had knowledge and skills that others were seeking, I started sharing that information and producing formal teaching materials on the relevant topics.

Why do you like working with goats?

They are smart and challenging, plus uniquely useful for environmental challenges that we face in this transition area between the prairie and forest biomes.

What’s one tip, trick, hack or favorite tool that you use with your goats?

Kidding without needing human labor on pasture; genetic selection for desired traits.

You can find Cherrie Nolden’s research and presentations on goats and doing brushwork with goats below:

My MS degree thesis is here
List of educational resources that I have produced plus other targeted grazier’s presentations are here
I did a couple research projects on portable inexpensive shelters for goats. They are a hoop house of stock panels, covered in silage plastic (cheap and durable), over a plywood floor on a used boat trailer. You can pull them down a highway and park them wherever you need to provide shelter.
- Shelter options
- Density per shelter: These shelters are still being used on our farm currently. We’ve replaced the inexpensive silage plastic covers 2 times.
I have multiple years of presentations that are available for purchase through the Wisconsin School for Dairy and Livestock Farmers at UW-Madison
I have recorded presentations on low-input goat production, and livestock guardian dog selection training and care through the Southwest Wisconsin Technical College’s Dairy Goat Academy
Goats as Restorative Catalysts. Managing Goats for Environmental Regeneration, Not Degeneration. (PVP105). Invited Guest Speaker. Permaculture Voices Podcast. San Diego, California. 11/6/2015.
Goats control pasture invasive plants. Progressive Forage Magazine. Interview by Kelli Boylen at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant brush control research sites. 6/12/2015.
Interview with Susan Bence of Milwaukee Public Radio WUWM. Goats for prairie restoration research at BAAP. October 11, 2011. Interview was aired on Lake Effect segment on Dec 23rd, 2011.
My social media page that’s focused on goats and LGDs is Cherrie Nolden on Facebook
There are many publications, newspaper articles, etc. available online if people search my name.