Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 49 Property and business development Since the decision was made to establish Big Ampi Rangeland Goats, a second property was purchased in early 2017. Mt Hope Station boasted a 4,000 strong composite goat herd that was transferred with the property. Being run as a goat enterprise, it was already equipped with much of the required fencing infrastructure. It also has frontage to the Kidman Way, allowing for all weather truck access. This is strategically important in the context of developing a business that could provide a consistent supply of goats to domestic markets. With expansion into managed goats and the subsequent capital expenditure program, comes some risk. Big Ampi are confident in the research they have done to inform their decisions and feel that sufficient opportunities exist to utilise the infrastructure being invested in, even if they were to move away from goats. Big Ampi Rangeland Goats has permanent managers living on both properties. They are valued greatly for their experience in managing pastoral properties, particularly in goat and meat sheep industries. An additional labour unit is also located on each property on a full time basis. Managing partners are located off farm, but play an active role in all aspects of the business. Fencing on Big Ampi station was initially plain and barbed wire designs, sufficient for containing cattle and Merino sheep. Since expanding into managed goats, fences are being constructed using 7/90/30 hinge-joint with three supporting plain wires, barbed wires top and bottom and posts spaced at seven metres. Hinge-joint fencing now encloses approximately 24,000 ha on Big Ampi, with 30,000 ha yet to be fenced. Mt Hope station is entirely fenced with hinge-joint. It is thought that by raising the fence height from 1.1 m to 1.2 m may have a substantial impact on the movement of kangaroos over hinge-joint fences. On farm observation has indicated that a far smaller portion of the kangaroo population is willing to try and jump a fence with this extra height. As additional height and wires act primarily as a visual deterrent, Big Ampi are exploring the accessibility of a low cost, flexible post extender. Fence lines are kept graded for better station access and to reduce impact damage from animals that don’t sight the fence in time. Water infrastructure across the two properties is a mix of ground tanks and troughs, with no paddock relying solely on surface water. This provides some surety of stock water while also spreading grazing pressure between water points. An additional aspect to water management is the ability to shut down waters (by turning off a trough, or closing a yard around ground tanks) when stock are not present in a paddock. This allows for better control over non-domestic grazers in order to properly rest pastures. An area which Big Ampi are beginning to explore is the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. This technology allows individual animals be identified and production data captured and stored. Currently, breeding animals are being tagged but other tools and data collection has not yet been implemented. Key intended outcomes from the use of this technology include; capture of reproductive performance data, incorporating an autodraft unit allowing saleable animals to be accurately drafted, and for animal selection decisions to be better informed. Hinge-joint fence design Composite bucks, six to seven months of age