Nebraska Extension helps goat operation connect to thriving local market

An Omaha area farm struggling to find its target market received a major boost this year with assistance from a Nebraska Extension educator.

When Gayle Duda and Ruth Wood’s honey operation flooded in 2010, the mother-daughter duo started looking for new ways to use their farm north of Omaha. They decided on goats as both an environmentally friendly solution to the invading honeysuckle and as a source of income. While the goats tackled the honeysuckle, Duda and Wood encountered another challenge — marketing the meat.

The Duda’s 960-acre farm has been in the family since the 1930s. While they currently grow corn and soybeans, they had been a cow-calf operation, so raising livestock was not new. However, goat meat is much more niche than beef. They sold some to regional markets, but those contracts fell through. They also auctioned meat in Pennsylvania, but Duda and Wood wanted to bring their business closer to home.

That was when, earlier this year in conversation with the nonprofit No More Empty Pots in Omaha, they connected with Ben Jewell, a Rural Prosperity Nebraska extension educator and team lead for the Nebraska Regional Food Systems Initiative. Together they talked about goals and aspirations, as well as challenges — the main one being marketing.

Jewell got to work making calls and doing research.

“When he said he’d help with some marketing, I expected it to be really basic stuff you would get in, like an intro to marketing class,” Wood said. “Instead, he returned to us with this really incredible marketing plan that was so thorough and well thought out. It introduced us to a new way of thinking about how to get meat to the people of Omaha.”

Suddenly, the roadblocks cleared, and Duda and Wood saw the thriving market that was available close to home.

“Ben had done the research for us that we were not able to do for ourselves,” Wood said. “It sounds pretty simple, but it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The daily chores never stop, and so when it’s time to call every butcher in Omaha and see which is familiar with goats, Ben had already done that.”

Russell Shaffer | Rural Prosperity Nebraska

For Jewell, creating a marketing plan was a thorough process, but the Dudas already had a lot going for them, he said.

“The challenges they were facing, branching into a new area of farming, is a common experience for new entrepreneurs,” Jewell said. “But in the area they were selling in, they’ve got pretty good name recognition. They’re a family-run business, so they’ve got a great story. People love to connect with their local producers and know their story.”

The marketing plan included not only contacts for potential wholesalers in Omaha, but halal butchers whose clientele use goat meat for religious and holiday meals — a target demographic Duda and Wood said they would have struggled to identify. 

Jewell also provided them with schedules for the rotating holidays in those demographics. Duda and Wood appreciated that information because they could then adjust their breeding windows so the goats were of weight when demand was highest.

“Working with Ben simplified where I thought we were going,” Duda said. “I thought we were going toward more of a mail order business. But in working with Ben, we realized there are so many marketing opportunities in our very own city. The opportunity to be profitable is much greater with the marketing plan that Ben laid out.”

Duda and Wood said two factors set Jewell apart.

First, through his roles at the university, Jewell understands the ins and outs of a food-based business and entrepreneurship.

“I think that makes a tremendous difference,” Wood said. “I don’t think you can approach any agricultural product the same way you can a normal product. When it comes to making a marketing plan, you need somebody who is familiar with the agricultural world, who understands what it takes to get it to the table.”

Second, his connections through Nebraska Extension come in handy. If he didn’t know the answer to a question, he knew someone who did. If he didn’t know what resources could benefit their marketing, he knew where to find them. Wood specifically mentioned that she asked him about refrigeration, and while he didn’t know the answer, the next time they met, he had the contact information for a colleague at Nebraska Extension who could help her.

While there is still work to be done and business relationships to solidify, the Duda goat farm is poised to meet its goals — selling all its goats, and to Nebraskans.

“One of the things I find with a lot of small producers is they just don’t have time to research potential buyers for their products,” Jewell said. “Or they’re thinking about a new market, but they don’t have the finances to vet these people and figure out what it would take to sell to them. So if I can do some of that for them, I think that really gives them a boost.”

A boost in practical information, Duda and Wood said, and a boost in encouragement.

“Ben gave us the confidence that this is attainable,” Wood said. “If we do the work and we do the outreach, it is possible that we could start supplying meat like we always dreamed.”

For more information, visit the Nebraska Regional Food Systems Initiative website or contact Ben Jewell at bmcshane-jewell2@unl.edu.