Historic flooding has forced a small Louisiana dairy to close after more than 15 years in business.
The Advertiser reports that WesMar Family Farm in Moreauville, about 10 miles southeast of Marksville, is ceasing operations because floodwaters interrupted the feeding routine of their goats, rendering the animals unable to produce milk.
The dairy’s 50 goats normally graze freely on about 2 acres of land, but floodwaters remained on the pasture for weeks following the Aug. 12 flooding as rain continued to fall almost daily.
“The goats were in standing water, and no matter how much hay and feed we got to them, they couldn’t feed,” says Marguerite Constantine, the farm’s owner. “And they just dried up. We weren’t going to sell milk that wasn’t good, so that left us with all of our investment and no cash flow. Instead of swimming upstream, we need to just close it down.”
WesMar produced about 300 to 400 gallons of goat milk per month that customers purchased in the form of pasteurized goat milk, cheese and soap from stores in Lafayette, Alexandria, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Matt Ewing, who operates a small produce farm in St. Francisville, tells The Advertiser he plans to step in and purchase WesMar’s equipment. He’ll partner with local goat farmers to produce goat milk, cheese and other products in the coming months.
“We hope to eventually in the near future be kind of picking up where Marguerite left off,” says Ewing, who’s been involved in the dairy industry for almost 40 years. “It might be a little ways down the road before we have volume, and that’s going to determine how soon we’ll have products in the market.”
Ewing says he plans to use WesMar’s existing retail and customer base when he launches his products.
