Big move for Big Oak Farms

The Pomi Ranch goes from a 100-year-old dairy to a goat farm

Terry Hankins Cindy Pomi feeds some of the herd at Big Oak Farms. Zoom Photo

It’s the most consumed meat in the world — and it isn’t beef, pork or chicken.

Goat meat, known as chevon, may not be as popular a meat in America as it is in other countries, but immigrants from the Middle East, Mexico and Asia are causing demand for it in the United States to rise. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, goat meat is the most consumed meat in the world.

“It’s very flavorful and has a sweeter taste than beef,” said Cindy Pomi of Big Oak Farms of Petaluma. “It’s a red meat that is very low in fat and high in protein and iron. There’s just three grams of fat in a three-ounce cut of goat compared to 16 grams of fat in the same cut of beef and 24 grams in pork. Because of the makeup of goat meat, doctors have recommended it to people with intestinal problems and heart conditions who are supposed to limit their beef consumption.”

Big Oak Farms, a fourth-generation 508-acre family farm, started out as a dairy in 1903 known as the Pomi Ranch. Today, the farm is run by Jim and Kim Naugle and Mark and Cindy Pomi, with their young children just starting to help.

“My husband’s great-grandfather came here to start a dairy,” said Pomi. “And it was a dairy until 1998, when we began to custom raise cattle. We only had a few dairy heifers and beef cattle left, so parts of the ranch were not being utilized. Last August, we decided to purchase and raise 200 meat goats.”

Pomi said the thought behind raising goats instead of cattle was that goats are a smaller, more economical animal to raise. “They eat less and drink less, and that’s good with a low-water situation,” she said. “They’re more affordable animals to raise.”

Big Oak Farms raises a variety of does, including Boer, Kiko and Spanish goats, while bucks are 100 percent Boer goats. “Boer is a type of goat bred for meat,” said Pomi. “There are other breeds, but Boers offer a higher percentage of meat. It’s also a heartier breed, with a fabulous disposition.”

The goats are free range and raised on certified organic pastureland. The goats are raised as naturally as possible, with the use of antibiotics only when absolutely necessary. “We try to be as all natural with them as we can,” said Pomi. “But there’s always an instance when an animal is suffering and we need to step in. We are toying with the idea of making the animals organic here, as well as the farmland, though.”

Goat meat is popular among a variety of different ethnic groups and is described as having a flavor similar to lamb, but with a milder taste. It can be used in any dish in which beef or lamb is used, from tacos and hamburgers to sausage and stews.

“We’re seeing a growing market for goat meat,” said Pomi. “I cook it in the same way as beef. In fact, my favorite way to cook it is to season it with olive oil, pepper and garlic salt and put it on the barbecue. Our goat meat is a younger meat. We harvest goats at about 60 pounds, so they have a tender, sweeter flavor and you don’t have to cook them as long. With goat meat from an older animal, it’s a longer cooking time. You don’t want to overcook it, though.”

Currently, Big Oak Farms sells its chevon directly, but it’s also available in smaller cuts at Marina Meats on Chestnut Street in San Francisco. Pomi said they hope to find a local market to offer their meat, but in the meantime, are happy to sell directly to customers.

Big Oak Farms doesn’t plan to branch out into the goat cheese business, but Pomi added that they do plan to rent out goats for organic weed abatement. “That’s where we send a group of goats out to eat down a portion wherever weed abatement is needed,” she said. “We had a hill that was a fire hazard. We just brought the goats out and they ate the weeds, so we didn’t have to mow.”

While sheep have become popular in the realm of weed control, Pomi said that the use of goats has an advantage. “Goats will eat weeds that beef cattle and sheep might not touch,” she said. “What’s nice about goats is that they are browsers that nibble here and there. They absolutely love broad-leaf plants, which are weeds. We had this little patch of stickers one time, the stuff that most other animals won’t eat. One of the goats found it and it quickly became a party. No more stickers.”

For more information on Big Oak Farms, visit www.bigoakfarms.org or call 778-6773.

(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@arguscourier. com)