Goats on the test were weighed July 2, according to Dr. Mike Salisbury at Angelo State University. Average weight for all goats on the test was 69.9 pounds with an average daily gain of 0.55 pounds per day calculated. Dr. Salisbury writes:

Weights and gains are right on target with past years. As all of you are aware, the weather has been extrememly hot and dry, but the last week or se we have received some much needed rain and the temperatures have cooled. Therefore, during the extreme temperatures and dry conditions, intakes were below normal but have increased and the goats are back to normal.

The official website for the test is http://www.angelo.edu/faculty/msalisbu/goat_test.htm

Received an email press release from www.wolfcrossing.org about a poll of New Mexico and Arizona residents. Average people were asked questions about the wolf re-introduction program and how it relates to ranchers and grazing lands. What was notable was that respondents supported both wolf reintroduction efforts and ranchers and their right to make a living.

This conclusion from the press release speaks volumes, not only about the wolf controversy, but it can be applied to just about any agricultural issue in play today:

The vast majority of those polled admitted little to no knowledge of the issue, therefore the uneducated public opinion on Mexican wolves and wolf reintroduction is positive. Despite mass media campaigns by wolf advocates who have been educating the public on wolf management that may or may not be scientifically based for years the public still supports livestock grazing on federally administered lands. Possibly even over wolf recovery even though they also support the idea of wolves on the same landscape. What would happen with a little pro active education on the real wolf story from a ranching perspective?

Emphasis is mine.

Even the pro-wolf groups (Re-Wildling Institute, Arizona Zoological Society, New Mexico Audubon Council, the Southwest Environmental Center) that commissioned the poll could, if they would, admit to “little or no knowledge of the issue.” They know they want wolves and lots of them.

The core of the problems we face stem from (IMHO):

1. Insulation of 99 percent of the public from any type of practical hands-on interaction with nature, farming, livestock or the actual processes that result in food on their table (or handed to them out the drive-through window, depending on their home life). Ironically it’s the efficiency and effectiveness of our capitalistic system in agricultural production, processing and packaging–the easy, inexpensive and constant availability of food–that has led to this insulation.
2. Constant 24/7 shaping of public opinion and conventional wisdom (by news media, movies, TV, etc., with very few exceptions) to a politically correct reality where killing deer for sport and food is evil, where livestock producers are villains who are denying animals their “rights,” and where the only good farmer is one who raises organic veggies and sells them locally. Yes, animals have “rights.” (I guess animals don’t respect one anothers’ rights, because they have a tendency to eat each other on a regular basis.)
3. Extremely poor education in public schools. Oh, the teachers can teach all right, but the curriculum seemingly must include mainly P.C. highpoints in history, “green” emphasis in life sciences, and presentation of nature and animal issues from the conventional wisdom point of view (see 2.).

Now, maybe the east and west coast apartment, condo and liberal enclave dwellers who promote and/or fund programs like wolf reintroduction would change their minds a bit if we insisted that wolves, bears and cougars were reintroduced on, say, Manhattan Island, in central Connecticut or in the Los Angeles basin.

Nah, probably not.

In the 2008 Angelo State University Meat Goat Performance Test, the bucks have all started the test, according to Dr. Mike Salisbury of ASU. All goats were vaccinated and treated for internal parasites at arrival. They received their booster vaccines Friday, June 6, at the initial weigh day.
This year, 157 bucks make up the test group and average initial weight was 55.6 pounds per animal. The initial scrotal circumference was 18.1 centimeters. Next scheduled weigh day is July 2, 2008, at 8:00 am. — actually a 26-day weight since 28 days falls on Independence Day.

Below you will find mean values for the past 8 years and where the current test compares:

Mean Initial Weight, Final Weight, Average Daily Gain (ADG) and Estimated Rib-Eye Area (REA) for the 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 performance tests.

Goat producers who don’t consider raising hair goats—Angora goats—are passing up a rewarding opportunity. Not only do Angoras produce a meat crop, they produce one of the best specialty fibers in the world–mohair.
Mohair is used to produce yarn and thread for sweaters, high fashion garments, and luxury carpets, rugs and upholstery. Mohair is known as the “diamond fiber” because of its value and quality.

Many of the best mohair producing Angora goats in the world are raised by just a few breeders in Texas and surrounding states. These breeders’ goats have been sought after by mohair producers in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the United States, for many years. The first Angora goats were brought to Texas from Turkey and South Africa in the early 1900s. The families of these early goat raisers are still around. They and their neighbors in Southwest Texas and other areas have been raising these mohair producing goats ever since and have constantly improved the genetics of their breeding stock.

But if you’re casual and not serious about raising hair goats, Angora breeders would rather you not buy their stock. They are interested in seeing their hard won genetics continue without dilution or crossbreeding to other breeds, which would ruin the fine mohair their efforts have yielded.

If you are serious, and would like to try producing one of the best specialty fibers in the world, you can find the best foundation Angora breeding stock in the world at just a handful of sales each summer.
If you are interested and would like to ask questions of the breeders and find out more, they would be glad to talk with you, I’m sure. Below are the three main annual sales featuring fullblood Angora goats with the finest mohair. Now is the time to bid and buy. After years of drouth and culling, only the best genetics remain.

Haby, Lockhart, Ross and Speck, July 12, 2 p.m.
Annual fine-haired Angora goat sale at Kerrville, Texas, features goats by some legendary names in the hair goat business, Hayden Haby, Jesse and Ben Lockhart, Joe David Ross and Dr. Fred Speck. Offered are some of the finest Angora breeding goats available anywhere in the world. South African goat breeders would be proud. Call Hayden Haby,(830)278-1965; Ben Lockhart, (830)234-3592; Joe David Ross, (325)387-3163; or Fred L. Speck, Jr.,(830)895-1234

Texas Angora Goat Association annual sale, July 26, 1 p.m.
This sale by TAGRA members is held at the Junction, Texas, fairgrounds operated by the Hill Country Fair Association. The picturesque Llano River valley scenery alone is worth the trip. For the first time, the event will include a fiber fair. For more information contact Dale Naumann, Sec./Treas., or Bonnie Naumann, 830-796-7429 or 830-688-1391. Send email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Lem Jones Memorial Angora Goat Sale, August 9
Held a couple weeks after the TAGRA sale at the same Junction, Texas, fairgrounds, in conjunction with the Hill Country Fair Association rodeo. Buy fine goats and get a flavor of West Texas at this event. Form more information, call event organizer Teddy Holekamp, 325-446-2537.

American Boer Goat Association executive director Robert Swize has left ABGA after the remainder of his contract was settled by the ABGA board of directors. As with any organization there were complainers and those who felt that one group or another or one individual or another were favored under Swize and past boards of directors. There were some members who felt that the ABGA was too Texas-centered under Swize and previous leaders, including board members and past executive secretaries.

The association has made great strides under Swize’s leadership. Membership has grown, registration operations have been upgraded and streamlined to some extent. The national show has exploded in size and participation. Of course, some of the growth has been organic due to the expanding popularity of goats as livestock in all parts of the United States and the fact that Boer goats are a logical and good choice for many small acreage farmers and rural residents.

I don’t know exactly what happened that triggered Swize’s exit, whether it was his idea or the board’s. I do know that for some reason there is always a lot of drama, power struggle, conflict and intrigue surrounding goings on in goat circles and goat organizations. Don’t ask me why.

The ABGA National Show begins this week, June 11, and runs through Sunday, June 15, in Tulsa. The ABGA office crew have left for Nationals and I imagine the association’s business meeting there will be interesting.

Here is a portion of the ABGA notice of Swize’s May 20 departure:

The ABGA board of directors and ABGA Executive Director, Mr. Robert Swize, announce a mutual agreement to cease their employment relationship effective May 20, 2008. After several months of discussion and consideration, the ABGA board and Mr. Swize have agreed that it is in the best interest of the association, Mr. Swize, and his family to amend Mr. Swize’s employment contract, causing it to end effective May 20, 2008.

Mr. Swize began his employment as Executive Director with ABGA in 2003. Since that time ABGA has seen unprecedented growth in membership and registrations as well as significant improvement in its financial position. Mr. Swize has brought a sense of professionalism to the ABGA office and has served to help move ABGA and the Boer goat to their current place of prominence on the landscape of American agriculture.

The ABGA Board of Directors wishes to express our appreciation to Mr. Swize for his contributions and time of service given to improve our association and our industry. We also wish to express our appreciation to Mr. Swize’s family for their sacrifice and support of ABGA during the time of Mr. Swize’s employment.

The ABGA Board of Directors would also like to express our confidence in the association, its members, and its staff as we move forward in the work and mission of the ABGA. With this change in the Executive Director position, the board would like to express that ABGA business will continue efficiently, and we will provide you with the quality service you have come to expect. We realize that with a change such as this there will be questions from the membership. The board encourages you to contact the board of directors as we want to be available to answer thosequestions and provide you with the much needed service you deserve.

The ABGA Board of Directors wishes only the best for Mr. Swize and his family. The board further encourages you, ABGA members, to be supportive of Mr. Swize and his family, as they pursue their future endeavors. We trust that, along with the board of directors, the membership will now look to the future of the association and communicate your thoughts for the future directly to your board of directors. The board will be taking a positive approach to our future and trust the membership will do the same. Your positive input and constructive criticism are appreciated and will prove immeasurably beneficial as the ABGA moves into the future.

May 22-23 will be delivery day for ranchers entering buck kids in the annual Angelo State University Meat Goat Performance Test. Participation costs $125 per kid, which must be paid upon delivery of the buck to ASU’s Management, Instruction and Research Center just north of San Angelo on Highway 87, near the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension office. More information at the ASU Meat Goat Performance Test web page here: http://www.angelo.edu/faculty/msalisbu/goat_test.htm

From the initial letter to potential consignors sent by Dr. Micheal Salisbury:

Breeders are limited to twenty-five goats each, unless additional space is available. All test goats will be fed for a 14 day warm up period to allow the goats to adjust to feeding conditions before the test begins. The test will last for 84-days to end August 29, 2008. All goats must arrive at Angelo State University’s, Management, Instruction and Research Center between Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 8:00 am and Friday, May 23, 2008 at 2:00 pm. If you must deliver goats at an alternate time contact Mike Salisbury to make arrangements.

Upon arrival, all goats will be vaccinated and dewormed. Grower ear tags will be used for identification if the goats have individual numbers on arrival. In order for us to order the appropriate amount of vaccine and feed and pen allotments assigned, we must know how many goats you plan to bring. Please contact test officials about the number of goats you plan to enter by May 10, 2008. Pens will be divided by breeder when possible so that all of a breeder’s goats will be penned together. When delivering your goats please have the following information available: Sire, Date of Birth, Type of Birth (single, twin, triplet), Age of Dam, Breed or % Boer. Enclosed is a form that may be used to record all of the information about each goat. The form may also be found on the test web site.

FMI call Dr. Mike Salisbury (325)942-2027.

Sheep have taken over the job of lawnmowers and maintenance workers in parts of Turin, Italy, according to Ananova news service. But in some cases city police are having to do shepherd’s work moving the sheep along traffic lanes from city lawn to lawn.

The city is employing about 700 sheep keep grass verges and lawns in city parks neatly trimmed. Environment officials in Turin said they were spending about $48,000 a year to cut the grass for just one of the bigger city parks. Now their lawn mowers do not require gasoline and the “mowers” can be sold at the end of the grass cutting season to bring money in to the city coffers.

Some complaints have been lodged. Drivers don’t like the sheep roadblocks when the flock is being moved, and park visitors complain about the fertilizer left behind by the grazing lawnmowers.

Forecasts for this growing season show corn production down from last year, even with heavy biofuels subsidies going to corn producers, according to the Texas Cattle Feeders Association newsletter. The National Agriculture Statistics Service reports that farmers plan 86 million acres of corn this year, an 8 percent drop from last year. The recently released report has already caused a rise in corn on May futures to a record $6 per bushel.

Some of that corn acreage will go to soybeans, according to NASS, as soybean acreage is projected to increase 18 percent to 74.8 million acres. Wheat acreage is up 6 percent, currently 63.8 million acres.

The United States has about 134 ethanol production plants in service, compared to 68 plants five years ago in 2003, according to an article on the Green Car Congress website. U.S. ethanol plants produced 1.9 billion gallons of ethanol during the first quarter of 2008, according to Bentek Energy, L.L.C., an energy market watch firm. In the first quarter of 2007 production was 517 million gallons less, so this year’s numbers are way up, about 37 percent.

March 16-22 in National Agriculture Week and Ag Commissioner Todd Staples is taking the opportunity to both honor farmers and ranchers in Texas and educate the public about the contributions agriculturists make to the country’s high standard of living, according to a press release issued by the Texas Department of Agriculture.

“This week is a time to recognize the incredible impact agriculture has on our daily lives. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the flowers we offer on Mother’s Day and now the fuel we put in our vehicles are all rooted in one industry — agriculture,” Staples said.

I received the photo below and letter to the editor nearly two years ago and fully intended to publish it in the February 2007 Meat Goat Monthly News and then once again fully intended to publish it in the February 2008 Meat Goat Monthly News. Well, I missed the boat again this year. I will try to get it into the March 2008 issue and am publishing it here, now, on Valentine’s Day.

The little Boer kid shown here was born on Valentine’s Day 2006 and came out of his mama with a heart shaped spot on his side. Here are the photo and letter I received from Don Richardson:

Editor,
We thoroughly enjoy your magazine (Meat Goat Monthly News) each month and appreciate your regular and featured articles. You perform a great service to our industry. We want to share with you a photograph of a Valentine’s Day surprise for us! This little guy was born early on Tuesday morning, February 14 (2006), and we could not believe the coincidence of the date and his unique almost perfect heart shaped spot on his left shoulder.

My wife, Sharion, and I live about 3 miles South of Big Spring and have about 50 nannies and three billies at our place. The goat business is new and exciting to us and we thoroughly enjoy raising them. We have been in the “Kid” business for a combined total of over 60 years through my work in Extension and hers in public schools. This relatively new phase in our lives provides us with a lot of fun and we really enjoy it when the 4-H and FFA members that select our goats as projects do well with them.

Sincerely yours,
Don Richardson
Big Spring, Texas