The 108th Annual Meeting and Convention of the American Dairy Goat Association will be held October 11 – 18, 2008, at the Doubletree Inn in Rohnert Park, Sonoma County, California. The anticipated attendance at this week long event should exceed 350 registered attendees, and could climb as high as 500, with ADGA members and dairy/other goat enthusiasts from all over the United States and foreign countries as well. California alone has more than 800 ADGA members. Two events such as this were held in Sonoma County in former years, first in 1976 and then in 1990, and met these attendance goals. Sonoma County has emerged in the past decades not only as a prime tourist destination, but also as a leader in premium wine production and high quality ingredients of all kinds for the upscale culinary movement, currently in vogue all across the United States. The Sonoma Select label is a highly regarded trademark among food professionals. The timing of this convention puts it right in the middle of the most colorful time of year in the many wine appellation regions of the county and at the end of harvest season and crush, the annual ritual of the squeezing of the wine grapes.

In 1976, the Bi-Centennial of the American Revolution, the organizers of the event chose as a theme – Capricultural Revolution! Among these organizers was Laura Chenel, who pioneered the production of fresh French style goat’s milk cheeses in the United States. Her business, California Chevre, recently sold to a French multinational corporation and remains in production within Sonoma County. In 1990, the event chose as a theme – Capricultural Evolution and continued capitalizing on the production and promotion of quality cheeses and other products made from goat’s milk. More producers have emerged each successive year, some as small sustainable farmstead producers and others as large scale artisan creameries with annual sales exceeding several million dollars. Sonoma County remains the US leader as a local geographic region in the production and distribution of premium quality dairy goat products. The theme chosen for 2008 is CAPRICOPIA -- a celebration of the abundance of dairy goats and the products manufactured from their milk. The best estimate is that some 30,000 dairy goats are milked each day in California and their combined annual production of milk exceeds 22,000 tons. The primary products are various cheeses – 3,300,000 pounds annually from California alone. As the economic margins tighten each year for dairy cattle producers, more are shifting over to dairy goat production. Even considering the rapid growth in domestic production of cheeses from dairy goats, various estimates are that far more pounds of such products are imported annually than domestically produced. There is room for much domestic expansion. Encouraging such growth is a primary goal of the organizers of CAPRICOPIA 2008.

This week long event has a wide variety of activities and programs. The American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners holds a two day conference within the confines of this event. A special program designed just for youthful dairy goat enthusiasts covers three days. A judges training and licensing process is another feature, as well as the annual meeting of the board of directors, a dairy goat products competition and various workshops on selected topics. The culmination of the week long event is the Annual Spotlight Sale – an auction of pedigree select dairy goats of all breeds preceded by a champagne brunch. A special feature this year will be an outdoor venue in an enclosed courtyard at the Doubletree for the annual Wine and Cheese event. A special tour of the local Redwood Hill Farm Creamery on a production day, and its producing farm as well, will be available. Other special tours will include such places as Korbel Champagne Cellars, Armstrong Woods – home of the redwood tree that sprouted before the fall of Rome, and the scenic Sonoma Coast, which some travel writers rate as more pristine and scenic than the French Riviera. This convention is geared towards dairy goat enthusiasts with all levels of experience and interest.

Note: "Capricopia" is a TM, registration pending, of Capricopia Farm, owned by Donald Knight and Jason Biddle of Louisa, VA. REDGA was unaware of the use of "Capricopia" as a herd name when it was selected for the ADGA meeting in 2006. We appreciate the understanding and support of Capricopia Farm with the 2008 ADGA Annual Meeting.

|| AASRP Program || Board of Directors || Breed Club Meetings || Dairy Producer Day || 
|| Judges Training || Registration || Schedule || Spotlight Sale || Tours || Vendors || Youth Program || || Capricopia || Directions || Expectations || Host Hotel || Sponsors ||
|| Travel Information || Contact Us || E-Mail || Top of Page || Home ||