Dedicated To The San Clemente Island Goat Breed
Meet Erin Link, a woman conservation farmer in Western Wisconsin. Raising and being an advocate for the San Clemente Island Goat breed on the EB Ranch Farmstead since 2013.
Learn more about this critically endangered breed of goat. And find ways to help support the breed and EB Ranch Farmstead.
Farmstead Products
Homemade felt Yule Goats add a touch of whimsy to your life. They make great decor anytime of the year and can be hung from trees, walls, doorknobs, and more. The Farmstead store offers a variety of crafts, so keep an eye out for updates.
Sustainable Farming Practices Produces Healthy Goats
Quality starts from the roots at EB Ranch Farmstead. That means implementing farm practices to help create healthy and diverse environments for both livestock and nature.
The San Clemente Island goat herd is on a rotating pasture during the warm months of the year. Roating means I have complete control over how much the goats graze and browse. Making sure they don’t over-graze an area. Rotating livestock on pasture properly is also a tool to help manage internal parasites that can be ingested while grazing. Giving a part of the land a rest period of around 6 weeks can help break parasitic cycles. This can help decrease the use of chemical dewormers. Overuse of chemical wormers can lead to parasite resistance and make the de-wormers useless.
Pastures have been seeded with different seed mixes over the year. Including plants that help with soil health and water retention, as we live in a sandy area. But also seeding plants, like chicory, that can act as natural parasite deterrents. Plus, grasses and other plants can provide a lot of nutrition for the goat herd.
A lot of time, though, care, and planning go into land and animal stewardship. Including continually educating myself about new practices.
Special Projects
Tepper Line Preservation Project
A focus to help preserve the genetic diversity in the San Clemente Island Goat breed is line preservation. Many SCI goat lines have died out. But there are still lines that can be preserved and grown. EB Ranch Farmstead is dedicated to working on growing a healthy Tepper line.
Color Diversity Preservation
This is a newly developing project, including a few other San Clemente Island goat breeders. There are a number of patterns and colors recognized by the San Clemente Island Goat Breeders Association. As part of the bumpy history, SCI goats that expressed many of these other color representations have been shunned and disappeared. Black and tan are the common and beautiful colors found in the breed. And we are unsure how other colors, such as self-black and cream, and black, may represent the breed.
It is some SCI goat breeders’ concern that working on these less common colors might be more sought after than the common tan and black. At the moment, that will have to be an issue dealt with if we ever get there. As of late 2025, there are only a handful of both cream and black and self-black goats left in a population of 1,700 in the United States. I feel it is far more important to understand and grow these variations instead of letting them die out.
Coincidentally, the Tepper Line seems to produce self-black. Which is exciting!
