November 2023

As we head into a season which has been well-publicised as predicted to be “hot, windy, long and dry” we are still receiving enquiry from farmers across the country about integrating cashmere goats as a part of their system.  

This makes sense.  

Diversifying with a livestock class that reduces other costs (weed control) and can improve pasture quality and therefore, their existing stock (removing weeds, seed head whilst improving clover content), as well as bringing in both a meat and fibre return, without needing to impact carrying capacity, is only positive.  

Because goats consume up to 15 other plant species that sheep, cattle, and deer don’t and they like to graze from the top of the pasture sward down, there’s not the impact on our precious feed wedge as the majority of their diet is in un-utilised pasture.  

As we hurtle toward the end of 2023, it’s been great to be able to release the Farmer Handbook for our growers which has been a labour of love to pull together all the information available from New Zealand, Australia and beyond, on farming goats as a part of an integrated system and modernising this information for today’s farming systems.   

We are excited to release some Grower Stories, which detail two farming businesses in the North Island which have cashmere goats as a part of their system and showcase the benefits they have seen.  

Next up, Duncan and I hit the road with our National Roadshow where we will speak to audiences of farmers and rural professionals about the benefits cashmere goats can bring to an integrated farm system. We would love to have you along to these roadshows if you are in the area, we hope to do this at a larger scale in 2024.  

I’ve enjoyed working with my existing growers over the past couple months as they have shorn and received their fibre results to make some adjustments to their systems where needed to ensure we are getting the most return out of their flock for their business model. There are a number of different models we have predetermined for farmers to meet different business objectives; there’s no one size fits all! These can be traditional breeding and shearing model, running a wether flock, breeding only model, and growing out/trading youngstock. If you’d like to explore different models for your system, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! 

Olivia