Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 35 Breeding During weaning, Keith castrates the majority of bucks in order to focus genetic selection away from rangeland characteristics such as long coats. Keith feels the only substantial genetic gains he has made are as a result of introducing Red Boer bucks to his herd approximately five years ago. He believes this influence resulted in a 10-15 per cent increase in weight gain, allowing eight month old goats to be sold at 35 to 40 kg liveweight. Keith did however experience poor survivability in introduced Boer bucks, except for those sourced from the Even Better Red Boer stud located at Ivanhoe. Keith believes that having these Boers bred in the region resulted in a hardy animal that was able to survive and reproduce in the rangelands. Keith has recently purchased another 45 Red Boer bucks from Even Better Red’s to continue increasing their genetic influence. Marketing Keith grows out both bred and bought goats to 35 to 40 kg, with cull animals and trapped rangeland goats weighing above this. The majority of animals produced on Tindarey are sold to depot operations in the Cobar district. The odd load is sold directly to abattoirs to be processed for export. This is a change from Keith’s past marketing focus of producing animals that fit the higher quality domestic market. He believes that selling to local depots generally results in a similar price received when sold to the abattoirs once the costs of transport are considered. Keith would make decisions on selling to the new Bourke abattoirs based on price received after freight. With more of the larger meat processors having entered the goat industry, Keith believes increased competition has benefited producers. As prices increased over the past few years, Keith’s business became increasingly profitable as inputs were maintained at low levels. Land management Keith uses a combination of grazing management and mechanical interventions to work towards creating a more productive landscape. He believes substantial improvements have been seen in the condition of Tindarey since going into goats. Drastic increases in pasture species diversity and prevalence of mulga mitchell grass, box grass and copper burr in particular have been identified. In outlining this point, Keith stated that he felt the carrying capacity of Tindarey would have increased by 200 per cent. Grazing pressure is managed via appropriate fencing throughout and the rotation of stock between paddocks in response to visual assessment of available feed. Goats are moved between two neighboring paddocks by use of trap yards on adjoining waters. Rest periods can be up to multiple years if seasons do not allow sufficient recovery. If feed availability across the property is declining, numbers are reduced before stock start losing condition. This is done in order to prevent the financial impact of reduced weights and the impact of overgrazing on pastures. Mulga Mitchell grass regenerating in country that had been burnt a number of years earlier