SALLY ROBERTS
Z Bar Farm, located a mile south-
west of Marathon, is where Sally
Roberts lives and works with a herd of
cows and goats which provides her
income and a menagerie of three cats,
six dogs, one orphaned lamb and a
javelina named Moe. Since 2009 she
has been licensed to make goat cheese
and related products. The work is end-
less and ties her to the farm but, for
someone with strong links to the land,
this is no deterrent.
Sally Roberts was born in the
Alpine hospital, the second child of Ike
and Sue Roberts. She came between
brothers Joey and Tim. Her father,
Ike, is a man of the land, who has
worked for the Gage Ranch for 52
years. Her mother arrived from
England as an au pair, stayed and mar-
ried, adding exuberance and an
English accent to Marathon.
School in Marathon was easy, and
Roberts completed ahead of the school
schedule. She couldn’t wait to get out
of the classroom into the outdoors. In
her late teens, she enrolled with the
American Field Service and spent a
year in Venezuela, where her host
family farmed near the headwaters of
the Orinoco and where she was able to
hang out with some U.S.-educated vet-
erinarians.
Returning to the USA, she enrolled
at Sul Ross State University, studying
Spanish and Chemistry, with a minor
in Range Animal Science. She got per-
mission in 1992 to take time off to trav-
el with the International 4-H Youth
Exchange to Germany. There she
moved around the country, staying
briefly on dairy and pig farms in seven
states, and at a stable in Berlin. She
also spent time with German veteri-
narians.
She returned to SRSU and graduat-
ed in 1994. Then she took time off for
another learning trip. She enrolled
with
International
Agricultural
Exchange and spent one year in
Australia, “chasing sheep and cows.”
Back again (1998) in the USA, Roberts
was employed at Big Bend National
Park as a Fire Effects Biologist
Researcher. Working under John
Morelock, she took a firefighting
course, which she found “more fun
than writing a research paper.”
In 2002 Roberts started employ-
ment with US Forest Service, initially
at Portal, AZ. This involved learning
how to rappel into fires from a helicop-
ter. She didn’t like heights but reck-
oned that “if the boys could do it, I
could do it better.” Later, she became
involved in administrative work, result-
ing in periodic spells of boredom. After
eight years, she felt she needed a
change.
Returning to her ranch roots and
wishing to do something productive,
she decided to do something with
goats. She already had experience of
raising goats on a 4-H project when
she was 14. Perhaps there might be a
business opportunity raising dairy
goats? She asked her dad, and Ike sur-
prised her by supplying six Alpine
dairy goats.
To learn about goat cheese making,
Roberts read a book, took a course and
consulted with George Floro, the old-
timer of goat raising in Big Bend.
While in Germany she had learned
something of goat cheese-making.
Changing times and demographics in
the Big Bend region might mean there
was a demand.
She fulfilled the requirements for
cheese production in the state of Texas
and was licensed in 2009.
Singlehandedly, Roberts has built up a
good business, helped by Ike, who sells
her products at Alpine’s Farmers
Market. She also ships to repeat cus-
tomers outside of the area.
Hard life suits her, and her remarks
demonstrate it. Work has gotten easi-
er with the arrival of a pasteurizer and
two cooling machines, but this remains
a labor-intensive and repetitive job.
She plans the goat breeding season so
she always has milk for cheese making.
She has increased production to
include cottage cheese and asadero
from her cows’ milk. From goat’s milk
she makes yogurt, feta, chèvre, and
kefir cheese (aged three months) and
lotions and soaps for sensitive skin. She
is hugely pleased when one of her
lotions improves someone’s health.
She is clearly closely connected to
her animals, which are fed the best
ingredients, including grain with kelp,
to produce the best milk. “No, Peggy
Sue!” she will say to a goat getting too
close, and the goat will back off. She
dismisses questions about hard work,
saying simply that right now she is
pretty busy, selling all she makes.
Asked about how long she will contin-
ue with goat cheese production, she
says “Indefinitely or until I kick the
bucket,” and flashes a 100-watt smile.
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2014
13