The village of Halaiky in Kyiv region is a small and picturesque spot. It was here that farmer Oleksandr Babіn created the Babyni Kozy goat farm. Oleksandr bought his first two goats in 2006. Over 17 years, the farm has grown. Now there are 106 dairy goats of the Zaanen breed and 100 goats. Oleksandr knows the pedigree of each goat as breeding is one of his lines of business.
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“We started with local, outbred goats. We had 80 heads. We were not happy with their productivity, so we found a breeding farm in Latvia that could sell a large number of goats and goatlings at once. We signed a contract, got permission to import animals from the veterinary service and brought 65 goats and 85 goatlings in the summer of 2010.”
The Babyni Kozy farm processes milk and produces various cheeses. The Babin family started this business right after importing cattle from Latvia. There was so much milk that it was unprofitable to deliver it to different locations. So they decided to process the raw materials on site. Oleksandr took a cheese-making course at Kaunas University of Technology, got the basic knowledge and the business kicked off.
“When we started experimenting with cheeses, we no longer sold our milk. At first, we made two types of cheese: brynza and amateur. Then we started making high-priced aged cheeses. We have the necessary equipment on the farm, and we try to upgrade it every year. This is how we continue to develop and improve.”
The farm is also a popular tourist destination. Families, schoolchildren, and students often come to the farm to visit Babyni Kozy. Visitors are offered a guided tour, told about goats, milk and cheese production. Cheese can also be ordered separately for tasting. During summer, there are many visitors from Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine.
“We’ve been promoting tourism since around 2019. It took us some time to get there. We presented ourselves at festivals, gave people information that there was a farm where they could see goats and taste cheese. And some people started coming, then their friends came. That’s how we started our tours.”
Oleksandr Babin believes that goat farming is promising for it offers ample opportunities for diversification. Each farmer can develop in different directions chosen by oneself. The farmer has no plans of increasing his herd now. In the future, the family wants to continue breeding and selling goatlings.
That report was powered by Latifundist Media, with USAID support provided through Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities (AGRO) Activity implemented in Ukraine by Chemonics International. For more information, visit their website or follow them on social media.
