Meat Goat Blog

4 Steps To Successful Meat Goat Production

The four principles to success in the meat goat ranch industry have identified by Dr. Rick Machen, Ph. D., Associate Professor and Livestock Specialist.

#1. Must have a VIABLE MARKET for your product.

#2. Market price must exceed COST OF PRODUCTION.

#3. The goal for REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE is at least one merchantable unit per exposed female.

#4. Match GENETIC POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH with productivity of the environment.

 

What is a good price?

A.: It depends. In this discussion, it is assumed good and profitable are synonymous. If so, a good price is an amount greater than the cost of production on an equal unit basis (i.e. $/cwt, ¢/lb, $/head).

B. It differs across operations. Seldom could one find two meat goat operations with an identical cost of production. Therefore, neighbors discussing the market across the fence is a little ambiguous without inclusion of costs of production.

C. It is relative to the current cost of production not historical or projected market data. Most of the costs associated with producing a commercial kid are incurred by its dam: major categories include land, labor, feed and vet/health. Land and labor tend to be fixed costs while feed (including hay and cultivated forage production) and vet/health costs are more variable. The cost of doing business goes up a little each year and with each subsequent kid crop. Characterization of the price received (good or bad) implies consideration of the expense incurred to produce the product marketed.

Parallel to Ponder: It matters not that gross income from a group of 40 lb kids is $40 per head IF it cost $45 per head to produce and market them. Subsequent experiences of similar magnitude will jeopardize long-term enterprise profitability/success.

http://uvalde.tamu.edu/staff/Machen6.htm

 

 

 

A White Christmas For The Kids

The kids saw a white Christmas this year. The sleet started late in the afternoon and turned to snow over the evening. We were checking pastures as the sleet started and watched several Spanish does stand eating hay as it fell. The Spanish does are tough, no doubt.

The next morning after the traditional fun stuff, we went to see how the goats and dogs fared. All were cold,but happy. The 8 inches of snow put the dogs in a great mood and the doelings went running through the snow jumping and playing. It was a lot of fun to watch the winter sports and enjoy the winter wonderland with the time off to enjoy it all.

It was a beautiful day and we are grateful to God for all he provides. This is a truly great country and a wonderful place to live!

The Role of Goats as Biological Control Agents Is Becoming Increasing Important

"In addition, the role of goats as biological control agents is also becoming increasingly important due to environmental concerns and elevated costs of other control methods such as mechanical cutting and herbicide application," according to the Center For Environmental Farming Systems. Research conducted at N.C. State University has demonstrated that goats have significant economic value in biological control of weeds and brush invading pasture lands. Therefore, the foraging habits of goats has important environmental implications by ultimately increasing the sustainability of production systems.

Jean-Marie Luginbuhl, Ph.D. says, " Goats also play an important role in organic and sustainable farming systems from the standpoint of nutrient cycling, soil improvement, income generation and conversion of fibrous resources into value-added products, to name a few."

For more information about how goats play a significant part in farming, see the full story. http://www.cefs.ncsu.edu/main-what-we-do/meat-goat-production.html

Rub a Dub Dub - A Goat's in the Tub!

The photograph of the goat in the bath tub we saw at www.allthings.comgoat was hilarious!! We're telling you, those ladies find some funny stories!. The narrative written by the Scroungeman has you smiling until you see the photo, then it's hard not to double over with laughter.

It was a wonderful way to keep a kid from freezing to death in the cold. As any goat breeder north of Texas well knows, goats don't handle the cold very well when wet. No doubt about it, Scroungeman kept the kid alive by warming him up in the tub. Great story!! http://scroungeman.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-just-might-be-redneck.html

All Things Goats Provides Constant Goat News

All Things Goats is a unique blog that gives its readers a broad range of information about dairy, fiber, and meat goats. A recent post discussed a disease in the Netherlands. 35,000 goats will have to be destroyed, a significant financial loss for the farms and ranches. This is just one example of  the worldwide  information provided. We regularly monitor the authors and highly recommend the blog to meat goat producers to stay abreast of news in the goat industry. http://allthingsgoat.com/

Goat Meat Straight Off The Farm

Fresh goat meat right off the farm! You know how it was fed and grown! Good to eat and great for you. So how is it done? Pretty much the same way from California to Oklahoma to the east coast. The Iowa Meat Goat Association webpage explains the process as,

"It's easy!

Step 1: Contact an IMGA member

Step 2: They will set up a time/day for processing at a butcher

Step 3: Contact their butcher to tell them your desired cuts

Step 4: Pay the farmer

Step 5: Pay the butcher and pick up the meat. Enjoy!

How much meat will I get?

If the live weight is the hanging weight will be the boneless meat will weight
100 pounds 50 pounds 25-30 pounds
120 pounds 50 pounds 30-35 pounds

How much will it cost?

If the farmer's price is multiply times live weight to get total to farmer
$1.50 per pound 100 pounds $150.00
$2.00 per pound 100 pounds $200.00

Then add the cost of butchering, which is around $50.00

This averages around $6.00 per pound for boneless goat meat.

Why should I buy my goat meat locally?

1. You know who the farmer is.

You can ask... what feed was used?
were growth promoters used?
were hormones used?
were antibiotics used?

2. Your meat is fresh.

3. You are helping the local economy by supporting

local farmer
local butcher
local feed mill

4. You decide how you want meat cut.

5. Farmer makes a premium with no middleman."

There's not much to it really, just find a local goat farm and put in your order. The goat is delivered to the processor for you! Goat meat, yeah!!
 

Goat Meat Doesn't Come From A Factory Farm

Goats don't take well to a factory style production model. As browsers, goats need to roam and meander through the brush to thrive.

There was a good article on factory foods, those meats, cheeses, and other products that come from mass production. Nicolette Hahn Niman, a former environmental lawyer, vegetarian, turned rancher did a real nice job in the article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolette-hahn-niman/avoiding-factory-farm-foo_b_353525.html  Niman writes for The Huffington Post, a publication we know absolutely nothing about. But her points on food production really cause you to stop and think. What really caught my attention is she is a vegetarian that owns and works a ranch with her husband. To be fair, she was a vegetarian before she was married.

The report didn't attack folks like me ( and probably you ) that like meat. We eat and enjoy it. She gave it up for her own reasons, but doesn't try to shove her own lifestyle upon others. She says,

 Goat: Goat is the most frequently consumed meat in the world but most Americans have never tried it. However, as the US population changes and as palates broaden, goat meat is gaining popularity here for the first time. One advantage to eating goat meat is that this is a non-industrialized part of the meat sector. There is no such thing as a goat factory farm. In fact, goat is probably the most environmentally friendly of all meats, because, when properly managed, goats do little damage to the landscape and consume naturally occurring undesirable vegetation, (like poison oak and coyote brush). Look for it at your local farmers market. The best goat meat is from animals raised specifically as meat goats, (rather than dairy goats), especially the Boer and Spanish breeds.

If you aren't familiar with what she calls a factory farm, you need to read her article. It is covers a broad spectrum and gives you some things to consider.

Reasons to Eat Goat Meat

Goat meat is a healthy red meat that most of the world eats. Here are a few reasons you might want to consider if you don't eat goat:

1. It's better for you than rattlesnake and tastes just like it!

2. If you think goats are hard to catch, you outta  come to a rattlesnake roundup!

3. You don't have to wait all year long to sit in the rain in  a cold deer stand  just to eat some fresh meat!

4. It doesn't take a $30,000 bass boat to get a freezer full of it.

5. It's always fun to watch people faces when they compliment you on the "fabulous chili" and you tell  them your secret recipe, saving the goat part to last! 

Packing Using Goats

The goat packing seminar is coming up in January, 2010. The concept is appealing. It offers hikers a means of packing without the strain of the pack on their back.  Although we haven't tried it, I would bet some of our goats would like it ( and not just those headed to the slaughter house ).

Some goats are naturally curious and like to wander.  Friendlier, more outgoing goats enjoy nosing around people and just checking things out! Some of ours would very likely "jump at the prospect" of a day or so exploring the countryside. If you don't believe us, send us your telephone number for the next day we work on the fences.

If you are interested, sounds like it wouldn't cost a lot to attend the seminar and give it a try. Who knows, maybe we'll just start renting out goats to packers!!http://home.comcast.net/~edelweissacres/ewacres5.htm

Breeding Season Finishes Soon With A Clean Up Buck

Breeding season is almost over. As always, it's been fun. I still have a knot over my eye where a doe rammed a gate that swung into my head. Goats really are a "headache" sometimes. During breeding season, even the does are more aggressive. You certainly want to keep an eye on the bucks at all times during rut. They just aren't the same animal.

We had one buck jumped his fence a couple of times into another pasture. Fortunately no injuries to either buck from the sparring and fighting. Of course, there is now a little cloud over paternity of the kids. Oh well, another positive thing about a commercial operation is those kind of incidents don't affect you quite as much as a registered, purebred ranch.

The bucklings will be sold for meat and the doelings we keep can simply be marked in our records as " Don't Breed" to either the intended buck or the rouge .

We usually finish up the season by running in a clean up buck for the remainder of the year.  It tends to catch those few does that didn't take to the buck we tried to use. A lot of times we wait about three weeks before the clean up buck goes into the pasture so then we know the late kids belong to him.

 The best part about the end of the season is all the does will be running together again instead of broken into four groups. Things just work better for us when all the does are pastured together.

As I wrote this blog, it occurred to me that we still have one more group left to breed in January. We will turn out the 2009 doelings sometime after the first of the year and let them breed to the clean up buck. We penned them up so they could develop a little more before breeding them.

A smaller buck will be used for the doelings first breeding. It makes it easier on the young does and is often a younger buck we want to test anyway.  This part is easy since the buck just stays with all  the does until kidding starts. The main bucks go back in the buck pen and everything is back to normal!