Meat and Livestock Australia

40 Additional to increased yield, goats have a far higher growth rate. Tony estimates that the live weights of his Boer goats would be around double that of rangeland goats at five months of age. He notes that rangeland goats can get just as big on a live-weight basis, they just take longer to get there. One particular change over the past five years in Tony’s herd is the presence of polled animals. This was not a trait he had previously had much interest in pursuing until he began noticing a growing demand from people sourcing composite breeding animals. Tony now estimates that up to 50 per cent of his herd would be polled. Tony has not witnessed any increased frequency of hermaphrodites since selecting for poll animals. Apart from the obvious phenotypic outcomes, he hasn’t noticed any additional production benefits. A particular challenge Tony has identified going forward is sourcing new Red Boer genetics to introduce to his herd. He recently bought 12 Red Boer bucks from Armidale in a dispersal sale. This is the first time new genetics have been introduced in many years. Marketing Most goats fromWallangarra are sold at around 5 months old direct to abattoirs for export. Tony aims to achieve carcass weights of 13-14 kg. To achieve this, Tony caps live-weights at 33 kg as he finds that animals over this tend to dress too heavy. In the past, these goats were sold into the domestic market. As the price of export goatmeat rose, the previously attractive premiums of the domestic market began reducing. This eventually resulted in Tony opting to sell into export markets from around 2015 onwards. At this point the export market was offering up to $1/kg cwt above domestic buyers. Tony has found that by providing a high quality product he has been able to build good relationships with buyers. A number of breeding animals are also sold to other producers. In the 15 months preceding 2018 he sold 500 bucks to producers primarily located in western NSW. Breeding stock have been sold domestically for some time, with buyers located across eastern Australia and Tasmania. Interest from Angora breeders wanting to breed horns out of their herd has also been expressed more recently. Breeding bucks are sold at between five and 12 months of age at a set price across age groups. No advertising is done for the sale of breeding bucks as Tony has not seen the need. Land management Both sheep and goats are set stocked on Wallangarra. Stock numbers are managed to reflect seasonal condition and feed availability. When discussing the de-stocking program occurring at the time of writing, Tony refers to the country getting ‘redder’. This is used as a means of assessing groundcover and the subsequent availability of feed. Over the years, Tony has witnessed a reduction in the presence of ward’s weed ( Carrichtera annua ), noogoora burr ( Xanthium occidentale ) and Bathurst burr ( Xanthium spinosum ), to the point where little is found on the property. He believes this is due to the weed species being grazed by goats where they were not readily eaten by Merinos. Tony refers to areas of the property boundary where clear fence line effects can be seen. All three listed weed species are far more prevalent in neighbouring paddocks that are grazed by Merinos. With regard to woody weed species, Tony identifies turpentine ( Eremophila sturtii ) as the biggest weed problem on Wallangarra. In reflecting on the landscape changes seen since moving into goats, Tony notes that it responds quicker after rain then it used to. He puts this down to the habit of goats to browse a variety of vegetation which removes some pressure from pasture species. This has in-turn allowed for greater maintenance of groundcover, and increased seed set and recruitment of pasture species. Polled composite does