How Gretta's Goats Got Started

Part Two of Gretta’s Goats: How It All Began

Gretta Winkelbauer, 36, of Grayslake is a teacher for visually impaired students of Lake County. But she doesn’t stop there. She wanted to reach out to children halfway around the world. And she did, thanks to a business involving mini-goats and a special farming program at Prairie Crossing.

Gretta Winkelbauer’s business of goat milk soap and fiber, Gretta’s Goats, all began through the Prairie Farm Business Development Program. The program helps new farmers begin their business without the enormous expense of starting a farm.

“It provides the environment where farmers can incubate their business and really develop a plan,” says Mike Sands, senior associate of the Liberty Prairie Foundation. “This gives them an opportunity to start small-scale and eventually get some land and grow a solid business.”

Aspiring growers develop a business plan, lease the farmland, rent the equipment and sell their wares at the farmers market or in a CSA. The program is aimed at helping potential farmers try out and succeed before fully investing in a large-scale farm.

“I could never do this without this program,” Winkelbauer said. “I couldn’t afford it.”

The biggest challenge of a budding entrepreneur in starting a farm business is acquiring the land. Sands says many of the farmers who begin with their program have some experience and expertise in the industry but don’t necessarily have access to the land.

The FBDP offers farmers a quarter of an acre at Prairie Crossing Learning Farm to start. They also can rent the equipment by the hour, instead of by the season.

There are eight farmers using land through the program including several fruit and vegetable growers, a honey harvester, and Gretta’s Goats. A handful of past participants have graduated on to purchase and operate their own large-scale farms.

“This is the middle step to getting people to start farming and growing,” Sands said. “Once they show they can operate their farm successfully, it’s easier for them to acquire land and farm machinery on their own.”

The FBDP also aims at getting more family farmers in the area who can grow healthy food. “It really deepens the connection of your food if you know where it came from. It’s more than just a transaction,” says Erin Cummisford of the Prairie Crossing Learning Farm. “There’s an appreciation for the work that goes into producing the goods.”

Winkelbauer spends at least four hours a day with her goats: Naya and Diego, both Nigora goats; Sham-Wow, a Nigerian dairy dwarf goat, and Violet, a Pygora which is a cross of a pygmy and Angora goat. She spends at least another 15 hours a week making the soaps, and wrapping them herself.

So far she has invested $4,000 for the goats and equipment and to lease the land and barn space. She hopes to add additional goats next spring to grow her business faster and ultimately raise more money to help the visually impaired in Romania.

For more information about the business development plan at Prairie Crossing Farm Business Development Program check out their website.

For more information on Part One: Gretta’s Goats and her mission, read here.

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