Kentucky Sheep and Goat Development Office

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/goats/newsletter/DECgoatproducersnewsletter01209.pdf

“It’s becoming almost chic,” Ray Bowman says with a laugh, “I never thought I’d say that.”
Bowman is talking about goats — more specifically, goat farming and the rising popularity of goat meat amongst America’s elite chefs...continue reading

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture has a new electronic publication called Kentucky Ag News.  The latest edition features an article on companion grazing.  Just click the logo to the left to see the article and sign up for e-mail notifications about the latest issue.

JACKSON, Ky., (Aug. 6, 2008) – What would happen if cattle grazed the same pastures with goats? That’s exactly what University of Kentucky College of Agriculture specialists are collaborating with a Breathitt County farmer to find out.   Click Here for complete story

The Kentucky goat industry recently celebrated its first official milk shipment.  Click here to read the story in the on-line version of Kentucky Ag News and click here for another take in Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader buisiness  writer Jim Jordan's blog The Buzz.  Visit Todd Harp's Foxhide Farm website or Susan Miller's Bleugrass Chevre website

Our friend Terry Hankins with Goat Rancher Magazine takes issue with some of the negative comments he's heard recently about the goat industry.  Click here to read his "Fodder for Thought" column from the March, 2008 issue.

LEXINGTON, Ky., (Feb. 13, 2008) – A devastating drought and rising feed costs made 2007 a tough year for goat producers across the state. But according to University of Kentucky experts, those producers who choose to stay in the business are indicative of the industry’s maturing.

“I think we’re at a turning point,” said Terry Hutchens, UK Cooperative Extension associate for goat management. He is referring to the shift from an industry built primarily on breeding stock to one that focuses more on goats for the meat markets.

“A lot of people sold lots of females off just to make it through the winter,” he said. “I think maybe 20, 25 percent of the does have been sold, and there will probably be a slow rebuilding period.”

UK Agronomy Specialist David Ditsch agrees that a tough production year has brought a change to the industry’s landscape.

“You’re beginning to see folks who see the potential and are willing to make the investment in capital and labor getting into it and doing a better job with it. Those who thought it was going to be something that didn’t require too much effort and management realized quickly that it is, and they’re getting out. So there’s a little shifting going on, but there’s still a huge demand in this country for goat meat. And as I understand it, half of the demand is currently being met by imports. So there is still a huge opportunity here in this country to capitalize on that.”

Ditsch expects the next big jump in goat numbers in Kentucky to come from beef cattle producers who start adding goats to their enterprises.

“I think, with more research and a lot of demonstrations, you will see beef cattle producers begin to consider the value of goats in their beef cattle operations,” he said. “Maybe it’s just for weed control, maybe it’s just trying to diversify and get the most out of their pastures that they can, so they can market another product.”

Ditsch, who is based at Robinson Station, has been studying companion grazing techniques using beef cattle and goats.

“The difference in weed control on this farm is amazing since we’ve had goats on it,” he said. “They’re basically eradicating multiflora rose and honeysuckle and iron weed and some of those (types of weeds). They’re really putting some pressure on it without the use of chemicals or mowing equipment. I can see some beef cattle producers feeling like that’s to their advantage. They’re able to utilize an undesirable species, a weed species, and grow some goats that they can market.”

There are other aspects to take into account, however, he said. Fencing is an investment because it takes more fence to contain goats than it does cows. Predator control is also an issue to consider.

Hutchens said this is a good time for producers to consider their game plan.

“Over the past five years, we have been talking about the need for a more forage-based enterprise. Getting the correct number of animals per acre, buying better hay, hay testing, using more than one forage species in a pasture and getting more prepared for the future,” he said. “We’ve been talking about that, but this is the first time I think it’s really hit home (with producers). But that’s what can happen in a drought situation and in a high cost of feed situation.”

He and Ditsch recommend using the spring period to get things ready by evaluating the forage base in pastures and checking for potential problems brought on by overgrazing.

“It’s very common to overstock,” said Ditsch. “Too many goats for the amount of pastureland that is available; that’s the number one problem. Then managing the pasture that you have to keep your forage crop productive and coming back, persistent and offering it at its highest quality.”

He said that staying within the three to six head per acre range is a good idea. That number of head not only gives the pasture a chance to recover from grazing pressure, but it also reduces potential parasite infestations that arise from grazing short growth.

Besides taking the spring months to reevaluate the stocking rate, Ditsch says February and March are the months to do some reseeding of legumes such as white and red clovers.

“Goats are small ruminants and clovers are high quality forage, so producers really should consider making sure it’s part of their pasture,” he said.

And while he and Hutchens promote a mixed pasture of clover and grass, including some summer annuals such as sorghum-sudangrass or millet, Ditsch warns against some of the highly mixed seed blends that are being sold as goat blends.

“I’m really trying to caution producers because a lot of those blends will include species that just aren’t that compatible in terms of getting them established and trying to manage them,” he said, referring to different growth cycles between species. “Some are vegetative while some are at the seed head stage. And if you’ve got other weed problems you want to deal with, it’s hard to selectively take some weed problems out without damaging other species.”

Hutchens says that producers are starting to see the whole picture.

“Most of the producers that have gotten into it do not have previous livestock experience. They’ve been very animal oriented and they haven’t seen the pasture yet. But I think these weather conditions and costs are going to make them look at it in a broader way and see it more as a farming system, rather than as a specific animal production system.”

click here for the latest edition of the Goat Producers' Newsleter from the University of Kentucky and Kentucky State University

Small Farm Digest, published twice yearly by the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES) has featured goats in its latest issue.  A .pdf of the publication is available by clicking here.

By Jeff Franklin

TEMPLE HILL, Ky., (August 29, 2007) – More ethanol plants projected to come on line over the next several years could result in lower feed costs for livestock producers. The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service is studying whether byproducts from ethanol production can be an economical and efficient feed for goats.

This is the second year of the project conducted by Terry Hutchens, a UK extension associate for goat management and Ken Andries, an animal science specialist from Kentucky State University’s Land Grant Program. The study, at a goat feedlot in Barren County, is funded by the Distillers Grains Technology Council.

“Distilled dried grains with solubles are a co-product or byproduct of ethanol production that could replace conventional feeds,” Hutchens said.  “Last year we had some success and found that you could replace conventional feeds and save about half the feed costs.”

 “DDGS essentially is where you take the starch out of corn and multiply all the other nutrients in the corn by three,” Hutchens said.  “So you have a 30 percent protein, high fiber, high mineral product that is excellent in ruminant diets.”

Andries agreed with Hutchens’ assessment and said the study also has implications for other livestock.

“Any time we can reduce feed costs, we reduce production costs; that in turn improves our bottom line,” Andries said. “It would be important to all operations, cow-calf, sheep, as well as goats, maybe our dairy producers, even swine could benefit.”

Some of the DDGS in Kentucky come from bourbon whiskey production, but the primary source is ethanol with more than 100 refineries on line and more in the works.

 “In the next four years we will be producing about 20 million tons of DDGS in the United States on an annual basis and that will probably increase with time,” Hutchens said.

The current study includes 160 goats of mixed breeds and gender. The goats are divided into eight groups of 20 animals each and fed until they reach an average weight of 65 pounds. The goats are weighed every 14 days to compute their average daily rate of gain.

            The goats are fed four different treatments with varying levels of zero, 10, 15 and 25 percent DDGS. Hutchens said the goats have responded well, particularly when the DDGS comprises 15 to 25 percent of the diet. The treatments also include soybean mill, soybean hulls, minerals and declining levels of corn. 

“It’s a simple diet that can be put together at any feed mill,” Hutchens said. “It is a very economical diet.”

             The feedlot is on Charles Smith’s farm at Temple Hill in Barren County. Smith is a meat goat producer and has been pleased with the study’s results.

             “We did one comparison of a commercial pellet on last year’s test and we did a commodity blend that did just as well at a little bit less than half the cost, so that’s money in my pocket,” he said.

              “The bottom line here is to reduce costs and still get the performance we need to be profitable,” Andries said.

            Plans for the study to continue past this year are uncertain, Hutchens said.  But he said he would like to look further at replacing hay and other high fiber staples with dry matter, such as DDGS, to see the results on the goat’s diet.