Shepherd’s Whey Creamery: West Virginia’s only goat dairy

By Vanta Coda III, RealWV,

From a hobby farm to a success in the goat cheese business — Shepherd’s Whey Creamery celebrates 11 years as West Virginia’s only registered goat creamery. The family business started with an impromptu pet goat purchase after the Behrmann family moved to Martinsburg, W.Va. from southern California in 2001. 

“When we moved here, we said to ourselves ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to get a goat?”’ said Suzanne Behrmann. 

After further research, the family discovered that since goats are herd animals, it is not recommended to buy just one. “Before we knew it, we had five milking goats, and more milk than we could drink,” said Behrmann. 

That’s when Behrmann’s daughter Megan had an idea. The family could use the excess milk to make cheese.

“We decided that if we are going to do this we need a way to pay for it, so we said we should get certified,” said Behrmann. 

To become a certified operation, the family then built the creamery. The operation includes a milking room, a milk processing room with a bulk tank and a cheese cave, for cheeses to age. 

All these efforts paid off, and the creamery was granted its Grade A certification in 2012. The operation now consists of 18 milking goats. 

Shepherd’s Whey Creamery now produces six hard cheeses, three soft cheeses, two fresh and brined cheeses, and three other goat milk products. These “minimally-processed” products can be found in stores and farmer’s markets throughout West Virginia, as well as in Virginia and Washington DC.

Behrmann has given lectures at Shepherd’s University — speaking about her family business to undergraduate students. She hopes that between the farm’s involvement in the local college and farmer’s markets — community interest may be sparked in cheesemaking and dairy production — to expand the influence of this industry to more West Virginians.