There's a new kid on the block and he's serving up fresh goat's milk.

Thanks to a $10,000 Government grant, dairy farmer Gerry Wilmot has bought a new pasteurisation unit for his farm at Cedar Hill, in Warwick, which allows him to sell goat's milk to supermarkets.

Mr. Wilmot, who only rears goats, has actually been producing milk for a few years but was unlicenced to sell to shops as the law stipulates that animal milk must be pasteurised a process where the milk is heated and cooled to strict controls to kill microbes and help prevent infection.

As Mr. Wilmot has until now been unable to afford a pasteurising unit, he was selling unpasteurised goat's milk to people, although he said he was upfront with his customers and made it clear that the milk had not been treated.

"People were willing to take it at their own risk," he said. And they had to agree not to hold him responsible if the milk made them sick. "But nobody ever got sick from it," he said.

But such dealings are no longer necessary. Mr. Wilmot's farm now produces about 12 gallons of milk a day that's more than the current demand, but he's hoping that will change.

"So far people have known about this goat's milk by word of mouth," he said. "There are people out there looking for it. Customers were coming directly to the farm to buy it."

Mr. Wilmot was selling an average of four to five gallons a day, seven days a week.

He has about 50 goats, 40 of them female, and is currently milking only 15. Milking time is at 4 p.m. daily.

"I'll milk twice a day when I sell well," he said. "The more you milk, the more they produce."

Working on the farm only part-time, Mr. Wilmot admits he doesn't have the operation fully developed yet. "I'm trying to get on-line like the cow diary farmers. I need to schedule my breeding. Some are too young but I will breed this season," he said.

Breeding the goats means more mothers will be available for milking. Pregnant goats deliver their kids in five months. Mr. Wilmot said he will separate the kids from their mothers and feed them a powered milk diet until they are old enough to eat feed and grass.

While the babies are given powdered milk, their mothers will be milked. That fresh goat's milk will then be pasteurised, bottled and sold for human consumption.

Mr. Wilmot took over the farm when his father died four years ago. The land had always been used to grow fresh produce until two farm hands encouraged him to buy his first two goats.

Although unable to keep the men employed, Mr. Wilmot kept the goats feeding them and then milking them. "I just fell in love with them and had a passion for them," he said.

"I have about four or five different breeds," he said. "I mix the milk from different breeds that doesn't hurt. It all goes in one can. You mix them [the different milks] together. As long as it's good you won't know the difference."

And good clean milk is in abundance at the farm. "Each of the supermarkets we supply tend to take between six and eight quarts a week," he said.

Wilmot's goat's milk is available at the farm for $5.50 a quart. Supermarkets now stocking the milk include Lindo's in Devonshire and Warwick, Harrington Hundreds, Whites in Warwick and Hayward's. It's also on the shelf at Art Mel's Spicy Dicy on St. Monica's Road.

For more information contact Mr. Wilmot on 236-8600.

The pasteurisation process

1. Milk is pumped directly from the milk can into the pasteurisation tank. The tank holds up to 20 gallons of milk.

2. The vat surrounding the pasteurisation tank is filled with hot water.

3. The tank and vat are turned on and heating begins.

4. An agitator attachment in the pasteurisation tank rotates during the heating process to ensure heat is distributed evenly through the milk.

5. An air space thermometer reads the milk temperature. When it reads between 140 and 143 degrees Fahrenheit, the tank heating is turned off.

6. A separate gauge reads the water temperature. It must be five degrees higher than the milk. Once the milk has reached between 140 and 143 the water temperature must correlate five degrees higher. If this does not happen naturally the temperature must be manipulated. Once the correct water temperature has been achieved, the vat heating is turned off.

7. While the heating is off, temperatures will continue to climb. When the milk reaches 147 degrees, water in the vat must be drained out.

8. The vat is immediately refilled with cool water and the temperature adjusted to chill the water further.

9. The milk is quickly cooled to 38 to 40 degrees. The agitator remains in, stirring the milk to ensure it is evenly cooled.

10. The milk is ready to be bottled.

The heating portion of the pasteurisation process takes between one and two hours depending on the quantity of milk being processed. The chilling process usually takes a further two hours.

How goat's milk measures up to cow's milk

It's not scientific fact that goat's milk is superior to cow's milk, although many believe it to be so.

Goat's milk has less lactose than cow's milk, which may make it more palatable to those that are lactose intolerant.

Goat's milk producers also claim that it's the next best thing to a mother's milk. But for those who use it for infant formula be aware goat's milk lacks the recommended level of folic acid considered necessary for healthy child development.

Below are some benefits of goat's milk over cow's milk.

l Many people with allergies to cow's milk can tolerate goat's milk because it has a different type of milk protein.

l Goat's milk has less lactose than cow's milk.

lMilk fat particles in goat's milk are very small making it very easy to digest.

l Ease of digestion makes it ideal for those with digestive upsets or ulcers.

l Goat's milk is a ready source of Vitamin A.

l Goat's milk contains 13 percent more calcium, 25 percent more vitamin B-6, 47 percent more vitamin A, 134 percent more potassium, and three times more niacin. It is also four times higher in copper and contains 27 percent more of the antioxidant selenium than cow's milk.