When Squeakie and Karen Brown got married, they had no idea that they would start a goat farm 30 years later. They both grew up in Houston where they went to high school and fell in love. Karen spent her summers on her grandparent’s 640-acre ranch in Sardis Oklahoma. Her grandparents had passed away, so when she married Squeakie, her parents helped them start the ranch up again.
Squeakie thought of living on the ranch like being on the television show Green Acres. He fell in love with country living and took care of mixed cattle, chickens, ducks, and other farm animals. While managing the ranch, they went to college, got degrees, and had their first child.
When his dad passed away, Squeakie and Karen moved back to Houston to take care of his mom. But they longed to return to their rural lifestyle. They had a couple more children and years later with Karen’s health fading they returned to the ranch in Oklahoma. By now the ranch was only 20 acres because of the building of Sardis lake.
So how did they start a goat farm? In the late 90’s they had a grandson who was intolerant to all milk including his mother’s milk. Karen had him try goat’s milk and it worked like a charm. They quickly realized how great goat’s milk can be. The number of goats grew as did the number of customers who discovered them by word of mouth. And that is how they came to start a goat farm.
Middle Mountain Dairy is located on Sardis Lake in the Kiamichi Mountains. Their goats now graze on 80 acres of pasture and wooded areas. Sardis Lake is one of the most beautiful lakes in the area and you may catch them swimming in the lake during the summer.
From the beginning, they mainly raised Saanen goats. But over time they added LaMancha goats. They now have several Saanen LaMancha crosses. You can tell with the dominant white color of their herd with elf looking ears. Every goat in their dairy is hand raised.
The farm is open to the public for tours. Middle Mountain Dairy has tours for schools, families, and individuals who want to come out and see how a small dairy works including goat care, milking and cheese making. There are a growing number of people who are interested in seeing where their food comes from.
Middle Mountain Dairy sells fresh dairy products directly from their farm. They produce 17 flavors of fresh chevre at their cheese processing plant. They also produce feta and squeakie cheese as well as fresh sweet goat milk.
If you would like to add goat cheese to your order from Middle Mountain Dairy be sure to contact us and let us know.
