Rural Success Stories
Home | View all Success Stories

‘At first sight, I fell in love with goats’ says Overton entrepreneur
by Betty Sayers

A herd of goats, a dairy and a cheese-making business were never in Chane Bidwell’s career plans. Chane is a builder by trade, and for twenty years, his company built luxury custom homes and even custom furniture around Fort Collins, Colorado.

“The business did well,” Chane says. “We nearly always had contracts for houses for at least two years into the future. In January 2008, my phone rang off the hook. Eight months later, it stopped ringing and I wondered what was in front of us.”

Chane knew he had to make changes and thought maybe an entire career change was in his future. “I researched a career change for a year,” he said. “During that year, some friends invited me elk hunting and one of them gave me a book called Year of the Goat. At the time I thought it was a book about something philosophical, so I set it aside, but several months later, I picked it up and found that it was about goat farms and raising goats. My wife and I both read the book and we found it interesting enough to arrange a visit to a goat farm where — at first sight — I fell in love with goats and our new career took off from there.”

How they found Overton

Once the Bidwells had agreed that their next career involved raising goats, they realized that they needed to purchase a parcel of land. They met a couple at a Christian fellowship meeting who recommended the Bidwells research land in Nebraska because land values were somewhat lower than in Colorado. Although the Bidwells traveled to North Platte and Lexington in search of a small farm, it was an ad on Craig’s List that led to a solution. “We received an e-mail from a co-owner of a barbecue place in Kearney who had land near Overton. He said he was thinking about selling it and he wanted to see a business develop on it.”

The Overton property was located near Interstate 80 and included an old wood-frame barn. Chane said, “My wife and I did think that a location near the Interstate would be helpful for marketing the goat cheese products.”

The next phase of the process was to purchase the goats for their farm. Chane said they visited with several goat farmers and then met a family near Greeley, Colorado who raised dairy goats. They offered not only to sell a herd of goats to the Bidwells, but to bring the goats to Nebraska and give the Bidwells some basic instruction in goat healthcare and in birthing baby goats – called “kidding” among goat farmers. Chane said his experience purchasing a starter herd was far beyond what he expected, but, “It’s an unusual thing about goat people: they are the kindest, most generous people in the world.”

Doing nothing halfway

The Bidwells purchased their land in 2009. Less than two years later they have some 200 head of meat and dairy goats, a network of pens and shelters to keep them sorted, and an additional barn outside. Inside, they have a clean room for pasturing milk and making cheese, a milking room and an office. Their goat, dairy and cheese making business – now called Bidwell Goat Farm and Flatwater Creamery — was licensed and certified Grade A in February 2011, and they have an expanding number of retail outlets.

“When my heart is in something and I am ready to do it, I move on it,” Chane said.

The Internet is essential. The Bidwells buy and sell goats and dairy products, communicate constantly via e-mail, researching products including grains and medications for the goats on the Internet. When the herd produced 50 kids this spring, Chane put an ad on Craig’s List advertising goats for eating, as backyard pets and to milk. “We sold every goat we advertised,” Chane said.

Say cheese

One serving of goat milk provides twice the protein, one-third the cholesterol and one-third the calories as cow’s milk, Chane says. The goat milk and cheese products are popular because goat milk is important for a variety of diets.

“When people read about our products in local newspapers, the phone rings like crazy,” Chane said. “If they’ve tried goat cheese, they like the flavor, but people with milk lactose intolerance, Type II diabetes, allergies or cholesterol issues also buy the cheeses.”

The Bidwells currently market five different cheeses, feta, mozzarella, gouda, a soft chevre and paneer, a non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with vinegar. Although Indian in origin, paneer is also popular in Hispanic cultures. The Grade A pasteurized cheese products may be purchased at Boogarts Grocery, Tru Café and the Natural Food Store in Kearney; the Plum Creek Market and Mac’s Creek Winery in Lexington; and the Oxford Locker in Oxford, although the Bidwells are seeking additional outlets.

For now, Chane said his future plans are to “live simply, work my farm, and live a simple life.” If you’ve been inspired to follow in his footsteps, he offers this advice:

1. Be prepared for hard work: “In my career as a builder, I always considered myself a hard worker. Milking goats, kidding, making cheese is, oh my, maybe I get four to five hours of sleep at night. Cheese making requires 8-10 hours of constant stirring and straining.”
2. Be ready to learn new skills: “Goat farmers have to learn to do a lot on their own. For example, you have to essentially become your own vet because the value of one goat is usually less than the cost of one veterinarian visit.”
3. Stay connected: “We are on the Internet daily for advice from other goat farmers and cheese makers and veterinarian, purchasing product, and getting answers to many other questions. We speak to lots of people on the Internet. Among our most-used Internet sites is Goatworld/911.com. This site is monitored 24 hours a day by experienced goat farmerswilling to provide advice by phone or email.”
4. Network with other goat farmers: “We belong to a community of goat farmers and cheese makers who both are valuable resources and friends.”

Who To Contact...

Bidwell Goat Farm & Flatwater Creamery
75040 Rd. 446
Overton, NE 68863
ph: 308-987-2208
alt: 970-420-2884
chanebidwell@yahoo.com
www.bidwellboernubiangoats.com

Betty Sayers is a co-founder of Nebraska Rural Living. She lives in Holdrege, NE. Read more about her on the 'About Us' page.

back to top | more Success Stories