Better animal balance
From the April 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
A Western Division producer has successfully moved his operation from Merino wool to goat meat production.
John Vagg said the presence of rangeland goats on his Ivanhoe property, ‘Orana’ and the collapse the wool floor price in the early 1990s were major factors in his decision to make the move.
“I was already selling up to 2000 goats per year and they brought a reasonable return with no input costs,” Mr Vagg said.
“As a single operator, working with goats is very easy in comparison with sheep.”
Initial investigations into the export goat meat market revealed a large and expanding market.
“I felt confident that with good marketing, the rangeland goat would be a valuable commodity,” he said.
An additional benefit has been the ability to manage weeds with goats, including woody weeds.
Mr Vagg started his new goat operation in 1996 with a 1600 hectare hinged-joint goat paddock in which he kept the best rangeland does.
The 2002 drought saw the sale of half his sheep and cattle, and in 2006 he sold his last sheep.
“As the drought became worse, I noticed how well the goats were managing due to their ability to browse whilst the sheep were getting weaker and weaker despite being lightly stocked.
“I watched the does double-kidding every six months through the dry conditions and my doe herd was growing while my sheep flock was decreasing.
“It was costing me about $17 per head to run my sheep for the year and very little to run my goats.
“The goat enterprise was looking more and more profitable for my type of country.”
More than 10 years down the track and with funding from WEST 2000 Plus, Mr Vagg has improved his farm infrastructure with nine main paddocks and numerous small paddocks now fenced.
“The goats are breeding quickly as I have the bucks in all year with 3500 does.
“I turn off the entire males at nine months of age weighing 40 kilograms plus and continue to find goats very profitable with very low input costs.
“Despite this current drought, the goats remain in good condition and kidding percentages remain higher than 240 per cent per year.”
Contact Sally Ware, Hay, (02) 6993 1608.
