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Jennifer Lynn Bice's love affair with goats started in the mid-1960s when her parents bought an old 3.5-acre apple orchard in Sebastopol, Calif. Her father Kenneth had raised goats on his family's farm in the San Fernando Valley. Her mother Cynthia was more of a city girl, but she was attracted to life on the farm, so the Bices headed north to Sonoma County to grow vegetables and raise goats.
After cultivating a small family herd of 40 to 50 goats for the first few years, the Bices decided in 1968 to build a grade A goat dairy and began selling fresh goat's milk to local independent grocers in Sonoma, Napa and other nearby communities. They founded the Redwood Empire Dairy Goat Association -- still going strong today -- to promote quality goat breeding.
"We were raised on fresh goat's milk, and mother made fresh goat's milk yogurt in our kitchen. But to most people back then, goat's milk was a new thing. Our parents were among the first to educate the public about its great taste and health benefits," says Jennifer's sister Sharon, who works with Jennifer, along with their youngest brother Scott at Redwood Hill Farm.
The eldest of 10 children, Jennifer raised her own herd of about 40 goats during high school and continued caring for the goats after she started college. Deciding that animal husbandry was her true passion, she left college, attended business school and worked at a veterinary clinic while continuing to take care of her small goat herd.
In 1978, Jennifer assumed ownership of Redwood Hill Farm with partner Steven Schack. The two made a plan to expand the business by producing goat milk products and developing a dairy goat breeding program. Today, Redwood Hill Farm is considered a leader in the world of goat breeding and goat milk product production.
Bice is also well known as a goat breeder and judge of dairy goats at shows. For the past 30 years, she has judged dairy goats throughout the United States and Canada, including six stints as a judge at the American Dairy Goat Association National Show.
Redwood Hill Farm has over 350 dairy goats, including Alpine, LaMancha, Nubian and Saanen. They are milked for production of goat milk cheese, goat milk yogurt and goat milk soap. The farm's goat milk yogurt is nationally distributed and has won numerous gold medals for its European-style, velvety smooth texture and taste.
"We want our products to be as natural and unprocessed as possible, so we don't standardize or homogenize our milk," says Bice. "And we don’t use sugar, coloring, preservatives, stabilizers or powdered milk."
The quality of Redwood Hill's herd receives regular recognition from the dairy goat industry. Among many other awards the dairy receives every year, its Alpine doe, "Remember Jambalaya," took the top award at the American Dairy Goat Association’s National Show in Spokane, Wa., in 2005.
The overarching philosophy at Redwood Hill Farm supports family farming as the best way to bring great food to the table, preserve open space and maintain a sustainable business that contributes to the local economy.
"All of this leads to satisfying jobs for our employees, who share our love for the goats, and a wonderful life for the goats themselves," says Bice.
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