Twenty minutes, tops. Rising goats' milk sales numbers are music to the ears of Mary Doerr. She operates Dancing Winds Farm, a goat dairy, cheese and meat business near Kenyon in southern Minnesota. Every day, twice a day, Doerr shoos her 11 milkers into the parlor, doles out their corn and oats mix. Goat milking parlor helpers are always welcome at Dancing Winds Farm and they frequently show up because Doerr also runs a farm retreat, sort of like a bed and breakfast.
City slickers can just lay about and watch everyone work, or they can pitch in.
They'll be directed to Miss May Sarton, the herd member most amenable to unfamiliar hands. After morning milking, the goats head for a romp in the pasture. And this means Suzie the farm dog's moment has arrived. She quivers with anticipation, and then transforms her tubby black form into a sleek torpedo as she races along the fence line. Suzie's job is to make a racket and get the goats aimed in the right direction.