Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 43 Property and business development Over the last 20 years, most changes occurring on Moonavale have involved infrastructure development and enterprise mix. During the 1990’s Moonavale was run at 80 per cent Merino’s and 20 per cent hereford cattle, with harvested goats making up a negligible portion of total income. From this base, goats have slowly grown to the point where they now represent approximately one third of the total business, with sheep and cattle also in even thirds. The increase in goats has been due to the combined effects of increased numbers, increased value and pursuit of diversification. Going forward, Rick and Floss intend to increase goats to somewhere in the vicinity of 75 per cent of their overall business, with sheep and cattle making up the remaining quarter. Labour requirements are met within the family unit, something Rick keeps at the front of mind when planning infrastructure developments. As labour can prove to be not only costly, but often hard to source, Rick is mindful of using infrastructure to reduce labour requirements where practical. Infrastructure developments on Moonavale have largely been in the form of fencing and water point establishment. Rick refers to large areas of the property that had never been utilised outside of exceptionally wet years due to the limited access to water. These areas are now being opened up by the establishment of new bores and associated pipelines. Following water has come fencing, with larger paddocks split into smaller areas that allow for easier management. Regarding paddock design, Rick prefers a long and narrow layout as they are able to be mustered by fewer people. New fencing has varied between plain and barbed wire sheep fences and hinge-joint goat fencing. The first ‘goat paddock’ was established on Moonavale in 2005, enclosing 2,800 ha (7,000 acres). The fence design used on this paddock and employed since is 6/70/30 hinge-joint with steel posts spaced at seven metres and barb wires run above and below the hinge-joint. Rick points out that the bottom barb is one hole below the hinge-joint to act as a ‘sacrifice wire’ that can easily be replaced if it rusts out in the future. This design was settled on after trialing a number of options on water points. There is now a total of approximately 25 km of hinge-joint fencing on Moonavale, being installed gradually since 2005 to enclose a second paddock of 200 ha in 2018. Eight trap yards have been established across Moonavale to allow water to be closed down and reduce grazing pressure when domestic stock are removed. They also facilitate the trapping of rangeland goats. Three of these sites also involve multi-species stock yards that allow sheep, cattle or goats to be handled. Trap yards are built using a figure eight design, with one yard directly around the water where animals enter, and a second yard the animals exit through. This ensures that when the water is being trapped that animals don’t block up the water, resulting in others not entering the trap yard. When discussing trap yard design, Rick refers back to his earlier trap yards designed using hinge-joint. These yards only lasted a few years, having been replaced with weld mesh which has since proved sufficient to stand up to the high pressure of trapped rangeland goats. Reflecting on this, Rick states that by investing in better quality materials and design first up would have saved time and money in the long run. Looking to the future, continued investment in water points and fencing is planned in order to better utilise poorly watered areas of Moonavale. Fencing will also be critical in expanding their goat enterprise, with intentions to have a total of 12,000 ha enclosed with hinge-joint fencing. This will require an additional 40 km of hinge-joint fencing to be established. Existing plain wire fence upgraded with hinge-joint and barbs.