Going into goats or considering expanding?

The next webinar in MLA’s Goat Roadshow series offers management tips and tricks from a panel of producers to encourage others to get into goats or to expand their enterprises.

MLA invites producers and advisers to gain valuable insights and advice from a panel of producers who represent a range of enterprise types, sizes, and environments. Each panellist will give an overview of their operations and management practices and be available to take your questions.

The panellists will demonstrate how they used what they had to get started with including adapting existing infrastructure and equipment, utilising available grazing and fodder, and drawing on personal experience in other livestock enterprises, business, and professions to make your goat enterprise a success.

Panellist 1: Stefan Anesbury runs up to 150 breeding goats on 60 hectares at his Anesbury Hill Angora Stud near Birdwood, in the Adelaide Hills. His herd produces “Diamond Fibre” mohair for the niche weaving market, and it is sold direct to South Africa. As Stefan’s property is an ex-dairy farm, he has converted the equipment and fences to suit goats. He is aiming to increase the number of home bred breeder does from 50pc to 100pc and to improve fibre length and quality and yield per goat.

Panellist 2: Bradley Irvine and his mother Christine Irvine of Acheron, Victoria, started with three Boer goats in 2015 and have been producing goats as a business on their farm, Belle Ridge, for the past three years. They recently bought two registered Boer bucks to help refine their genetics to produce larger and broader animals. The Irvines now have more than 250 pure bred Boer Goats, including 100 breeder does and supply to local processors and hospitality outlets.

Panellist 3: Anita Dennis and Joe Taylor of Blackall, Queensland, run a managed rangeland goat herd and a Kalahari Red seedstock herd, as well as wool and meat sheep and a cattle trading enterprise. They took part in MLA’s three year benchmarking project for goat enterprises, which has provided them with key insights and showed that their rangeland goats were more profitable than cattle or sheep during drought, and that their goats provided far more stable profits relative to sheep and cattle.

The panel will be facilitated by SA dairy goat producer John Falkenhagen, who is a member of MLA’s Goat Industry Research, Development and Adoption Committee and president of the Goat Industry Council of Australia and

The webinar will hosted by MLA /Sheep and Goat Research and Development Manager Joe Gebbels, who will provide updates on MLA goat research, development and extension and goat information and resources.