Blythmoor Sparkle, 2017 Elite Doe

The American Dairy Goat Association released the 2017 list of bucks and does who qualified for the Elite Buck and Elite Doe designations. This is one of the most important awards in the dairy goat world - and one of the least understood.

This year we were thrilled to see another of our goats make the list. Previously, one of Fascination's daughters made the list. This year it was Blythmoor Sparkle, a doe bred by Margie Dykstra at Blythmoor Farm. In addition, one of her daughters and both of her granddams made the Elite list!

Other goats that are prominent in Owlhaven pedigrees that made the list include Cedar View Isabella, dam of our buck Cedar View Placido, and Dill's XM Keena, dam of our buck Dill's BF Diamond Rio *B. Rio's daughter, Simple Pleasures DR Eden's Edge also made the list.

The Elite designation is a genetic award given by the USDA, with data from ancestors and progeny being factored into the calculations. It is a very difficult award to earn because of the numerous filters that go into the calculation in an effort to differentiate between production that is an outcome of management versus production that is a result of genetics.