Jill Schramm/MDN Granville 4-H’er Will Bachmeier, shown with a couple of his show goats on Thursday, has earned a collection of Grand Champion ribbons at the North Dakota State Fair. 

The Grand Champion ribbons hanging from the Kottke Valley Dairy Goats banner in the goat barn at the North Dakota State Fair represent several years of effort to build not just a herd but an industry.

Granville 4-H’er Will Bachmeier, who turns 18 on Wednesday, considers the awards earned at this year’s fair to be a sign he’s on the right track in promoting the growth of dairy in North Dakota.

“This is the year that I think my herd is really exploding, both in quantity and quality. I do multiple shows out of state now,” he said. “I’m starting to do very, very well at these shows now against exhibitors that even show at the national show, and I can beat them in some classes. And I’m winning multiple grand champions.”

Bachmeier brought nine goats to the State Fair, where he competed in 4-H and open class. He is a member of the Ward County 4-H Champion Drive Club.

In the 4-H event, he showed the Grand Champion senior doe, junior doe and buck and the overall Grand Champion for all breeds, along with the Reserve Champion junior doe. Bachmeier also was named the Senior Dairy Goat Showmanship Champion.

In the 4-H static exhibits, he earned Grand Champions on his oat and alfalfa sheaves and did well on his gardening entries, too.

Bachmeier said he has sought out quality animals to breed in developing his herd, which currently numbers 13 goats.

It all started several years ago when his mother, Amber, who had raised dairy goats as a teenager, acquired two French Alpine buck kids and enlisted Will and one of his two older brothers in helping raise them. They later obtained some registered American Alpine.

Will Bachmeier said he was more of an observant bystander until 2016, when he participated in his first show.

“I wasn’t good. I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “I’ve come a long ways since then.”

It has been a lot of trial-and-error learning, he noted. He continued showing in 2017 with a doe kid that he purchased from his mother.

“Again, I didn’t do well. I was middle of the pack at best,” he said.

In 2018, he bred the doe and started building his herd. That also was the year he won his first Overall Junior Champion at the State Fair.

“I still was terrible at showmanship, though,” he said.

At the end of 2018 he decided to get into registered stock with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA). He acquired a few goats that he still shows. His goats showed well going forward, and he picked up a showmanship award that next year, although he says his performance still wasn’t all that impressive.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the State Fair so the Bachmeiers looked for an alternative show. They found one in Aberdeen, South Dakota, that was ADGA-sanctioned. His buck won Best of Show, but more importantly, Bachmeier was able to rub shoulders with and learn from individuals who had been showing  for 20 to 40 years.

By 2021, he had developed much better skills in showmanship. At the Aberdeen show this year, he attended a showmanship clinic at which he learned a lot, he said.

“I’ve taken those skills and added them to my craft that I’ve built up over the past few years. And now I just feel so calm when I’m in the ring. I know what I’m doing. I know how to get them set up. I know the questions. I know what I’m looking for in an animal,” Bachmeier said.

Graduating from high school this past spring, Bachmeier still is contemplating his future plans. However, he knows those plans will include trying to make the Alpine breed the best he can and to show his goats on the national level. He has his eye on a 2025 national event in Nebraska.

“I do like working with goats. This is really one of my favorite things to do is show dairy goats,” he said.

He hopes to be able to assist with showmanship clinics and judging and to become a resource for the young people coming up in the dairy goat industry.

“I still want to be involved and promote the dairy goat industry in 4-H and beyond,” Bachmeier said. “You look at the market animals up here, it’s great, but we are one of the poorest states in the nation for dairy. You look at neighboring states like MInnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa — they’re all top in the nation for dairy. Why can’t North Dakota be like that? We have such great industries except for dairy. If we can get the dairy industry, now we’ve got the total package for agriculture.”

He sees a couple of hindrances to the dairy goat industry in the state. One is the tuberculosis testing that is required on top of a certified veterinary inspection, which discourages out-of-state goat owners from bringing animals to North Dakota shows. 

The lack of any significant premium for dairy goats compared to market animals is another roadblock to drawing quality animals to North Dakota shows, which would promote the industry, Bachmeier added.

A third issue is the inability to market edible milk products from goats, despite the careful product handling and minuscule risk that has been shown over the years, Bachmeier said. For people who are lactose intolerant, goat’s milk can be a good option, but it is difficult and expensive to purchase, he said.

Bachmeier is working on the state level with the ADGA to ease these restrictions. Although he isn’t part of the Dakota Goat Association, that group also is working on the issues in the state.

Bachmeier finds dairy goat owners to be a good group of people to work with, spend time with and even compete against.

“It’s almost a humble feeling over here,” he said of the atmosphere in the State Fair goat barn. “The people make it really fun up here.”