Ryan Sullivan never thought he would be a farmer. When he left the military, he pursued a degree in social work but quickly switched to culinary school where he “learned about the importance of farming and sourcing locally grown ingredients to produce the best possible food.” During school, he took a job at a beef farm and fell in love with farming. In 2022, still in school, Ryan and his wife bought a house and began building their own farm while teaching himself how to be a goat farmer along the way.

Ryan does most of the work from feeding and caring for the animals to general maintenance of the farm. He also makes all the goat milk and runs the farmer’s market booth and farm shop. Ryan’s wife works full time in a dental office but helps on weekends with admin and business duties. Their kids chip in as needed.

Ryan was in the Marine Corps from 2008-2014. He was an 0311 infantryman and was in Kandahar, Afghanistan from 2011-2012. When asked what it means to be a Veteran Farmer, he replied, “[It]... gives me a sense of pride and duty. I can’t serve in the military anymore but I can still serve my community as a farmer by providing them with locally raised and locally produced products… I’ll be honest, I’ve struggled fitting back into society since coming home from Afghanistan. However, there’s something about providing people with our meat or our soap that makes me feel more connected to them.”

Wyld Goat Farm raises goats and lambs for meat. After dairy production challenges, Wyld Goat switched from a dairy herd to a meat herd with one doe for goat milk soap. Ryan commented on this change, “They aren’t pets but there is definitely a connection with each one… I have great respect and great care is given to those animals because they’re going to give their life [...] to feed my customers. I empathize with the sacrifice they make and the ultimate sacrifice many Veterans have made serving our country.”