Goats, A Cattleman's Friend?

by Ann Barnhardt

My brother is the manager of the impressive new Kansas State University Beef Stocker Unit in Manhattan, KS while pursuing his masters degree. A while back, he called and told me that his professor, Dr. Dale Blasi, had decided to bring in 300 goats as part of a grand experiment to see if they could clean up some of the brush that had begun to accumulate in the Stocker Unit pastures. I was hysterical with laughter. I was having visions of my brother being terrorized by 300 billies running amuck – sort of like “Jurassic Park,” but with goats.

As it turned out, my cynicism was totally unfounded. I had the opportunity to observe the goats and their brush-devouring prowess firsthand when I participated in the Beef Stocker Field Day in September. Friends, I saw the light. With a little research, I realized that goats are an outstanding way to save time and labor in the range management arena AND they can be sold into an ever-growing niche market for goat meat here in the U.S. Furthermore, they aren’t the loud, uncontrollable pests that they have been reputed to be. To the contrary, they are actually relatively pleasant; sort of like golden retrievers with rumens.

Goats will aggressively pursue plant species that cattlemen view as pests. When turned onto brush, goats will first go after young deciduous trees such as Locust, Hedge, Elm, Oak, Walnut and Ash. Next, they will attack any small, woody plants or shrubs such as Buckbrush, Sumac, Multiflora Rose, Gooseberry, Polkberry, Dogwood, or Plums. They will also eat Ironweed, Goldenrod, Prairie Thistles and Ragweed. Even Cockleburs, Velvet Leaf, Buffalo Burrs and Cedar trees – yes, you heard right, CEDAR, will be eaten by goats. Amazingly, goats will also eat Poison Ivy and Poison Oak with no difficulty, although I wouldn’t bring them in the house and let them sit on the sofa immediately afterwards. The preceding list is incomplete, but if you haven’t seen a species in that list that troubles you on your place, you’re either very lucky or living North of the Arctic Circle. The truly amazing thing is that the goats will eat the aforementioned species BEFORE they turn an aggressive eye to your grass. A word of warning: If you don’t keep an eye on the goats and move them off of a stripped area promptly, they will get after your grass. You can not ignore your goats, but they shouldn’t monopolize your time.

On the husbandry side, goats are relatively easy to contain using an electric fence. A multi-wire configuration does the trick. The low wire is probably the most important wire, as goats are not jumpers, and will try to crawl UNDER a fence before they try to go over it. It is recommended that nanny goats be used in the brush-clearing context, only bringing in billies temporarily for breeding purposes. During the winter months, it is highly recommended that the goats have access to a wind-break to protect them from the cold. Some light feed supplementation may be needed during the winter, but nothing exorbitant.

The other main issue to consider with goats is the issue of predation. Coyotes and wild dogs are the main worry, but can be fended off with guard animals. The two most common are llamas and donkeys. Both are relatively low-maintenance animals, and if isolated from their own species, will bond with the nanny goats and defend them from encroaching coyotes or wild dogs.

On the marketing side, I was dumbstruck by the huge demand vacuum for goat meat in the United States. Did you know that the U.S. imports 1.5 MILLION pounds of goat meat from Australia and New Zealand PER WEEK just to keep up with the ever-growing demand? Who is eating it, you ask? Latinos, Caribbeans, Middle Easterners, Asians and Africans are all big goat meat consumers. In fact, in New York City, of the top 20 incoming immigrant groups, 18 come from goat meat-eating countries! Goat markets in cattle country include San Angelo, TX, Hamilton, TX, Yates Center, KS and Colby, KS, as well as numerous facilities in Eastern Oklahoma and Missouri. Goat meat will never be a true “competing meat” to beef, so a producer shouldn’t feel as though he is competing with himself by keeping goats, but rather improving his pasture for his cattle and helping to narrow a huge goat meat trade deficit. And so friends, despite what it says on the placemat at the Chinese restaurant, I predict that 2005 will be the year of the goat!

Questions about goats from the cattleman’s perspective? Call Dr. Dale Blasi at 785-770-2700 or Oren Taylor at 620-496-5277. ©

Ann Barnhart is a commodities broker specializing in risk management. She can be reached by visiting her Website at www.barnhardt.biz.