Discover why Farmers are Turning to Cashmere Goats in the Face of Challenging Times

There’s undoubtedly a tough season ahead of us with farm profitability forecast to fall by 31% in the 2023 – 2024 season and an El Nino weather pattern in full swing.  

There are a few reasons why we still have farmers across the country looking to add a new stock class into the mix, despite bleak forecasts: 

• Diversification of revenue streams 

• Biological weed control  

• Pasture quality control with a lower impact on feed and higher drought tolerance 

Diversification of revenue streams  
Diversification helps mitigate risk for our farmers, particularly as we are so reliant on export markets here in New Zealand. Cashmere goats are a sensible diversification option for many farmers:  

• Low capital outlay for stock* 
    Kids: $50 – 60 a head in the autumn  
    Does: $110 - $125 
    Wethers: $70 - $80 (matches the meat market typically 
    Bucks: $1000  
  *Average prices listed 

• Relatively low labor stock unit. 
  With scope and scale, goats are a relatively low labor stock class, particularly in comparison to sheep – no dagging, dipping, issues with flystrike or facial eczema.  

• Minimal impact on existing farming system  
  Adding up to 10% of stock units in goats can be done without having to reduce other stock classes on farm. This is because goats target up to 15 other plant species and eat from the top of the pasture sward, down therefore grooming the pasture to be better for other stock classes without impacting feed wedges too heavily  

Biological Weed Control  
Expenditure on weed and pest control since 2021 has increased by 71%, not so much because farmers are doing more of it, but the increased cost of chemical. Goats target 15 plant types that other stock classes do not. Utilise goats to maintain or reduce weeds on farm without the chemical cost (plus labour, machinery costs etc) to not only reduce costs but return profit from fibre, meat and progeny sales.  

Pasture Quality and Drought Tolerance  
Many farm businesses utilise trading stock as pasture quality control. With a long dry season ahead, this may not be a viable option for many farmers however, there will still be some tidying up to be done. Utilising cashmere goats to tidy up rougher pasture, hill blocks, seedhead, scrub and weeds is a strong option. Cashmere goats are drought tolerant with lower nutritional requirements that can be found in their browsing behaviour, even in the dry, rather than impacting precious feed allocation for other stock.