NZ Dairy Autumn 2021

12 | nz dairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Oete Goat Farm: Matt Bolton Efficient milking goats a ‘great, sustainable option for NZ conditions’ Built in back scratch and dinner cut and carried to the plate makes for happy goats at Oete Goat Farm in Patamahoe. “I was passionate about sheep and beef, and then I enjoyed milking my cows but I’m really enjoying the goats. They’re fantastic with people, they’re very intelligent, they’re entertaining and they’re not intimidating for staff. When you get it right, they’re rewarding animals to work with.” Their original habitats were often very dry so goats are very efficient when it comes to water use and the conversion of water to milk. “They’re way more efficient than cows,” says Matt, “and a great sustainable option especially for New Zealand conditions, or anywhere for that matter. “We use Overseer to measure our nitrogen leak- age and it’s gone down from 47 units per hectare back in the dairy days to 11 units per hectare now, and we want to get it under 10. To give you an idea almond or soy both usually run at between 45 and 100 units per hectare.” With only six weeks to convert the Patamahoe property to goats they managed to convert the existing 25 bail rotary cowshed into 56 for the goats. Seven years later they’re milking 5500 goats through the original converted shed and a purpose- built 80 bail “goatary”. They’ve established the barns they need for the goats’ largely indoor living and Matt’s learnt a lot about goats and how to farm them. “I was passionate about sheep and beef, and then I enjoyed milking my cows but I’m really enjoy- ing the goats,” says Matt with a laugh. “They’re fan- tastic with people, they’re very intelligent, they’re entertaining and they’re not intimidating for staff. When you get it right, they’re rewarding animals to work with.” • from page 10 Rewarding, but susceptible to disease which can quickly spread through their indoor systems. The key to their success is to make sure the goats’ bedding is always fresh and their environment is kept clean. Milking staff are schooled up on likely problems, especially those that might be quite dif- ferent to what cows might experience. “Unlike cows they’ve got a very fast metabo- lism,” explains Matt, “so we test the pasture we feed them every ten days for everything from sugar content to protein and carbohydrate content, and we do bloods and livers to check for any deficien- cies. Then we balance their feed with a variety of supplements so that they always have a very constant diet.” While 85% of their feed is the cut and carry pas- ture grown on the now 273 hectare farm, the sup- plements include things like fresh brewers’ grain from Auckland breweries, and roughage from locally grown barley and wheat straw. Any additional input needed comes through made-to-order pelleted feed from Grainhub, and a farm-specific recipe of micronutrients from Agvance. It all adds up to a very finely tuned system which is what Matt likes about it. “That’s the reward- ing thing about goats,” he says. “When you get everything right you can see it in the goats. They’re a lot happier, a lot brighter, you get far fewer issues in terms of animal health and you can just see them blooming.” Goats are high performing dairy animals, with very specific nutritional requirements. Support this performance the right way. Talk to Agvance about using Customizer to design a feed premix or water- dosed blend based on their health and diet. Give your goats the correct level of trace elements - no matter what feed system you use. Maintain optimal nutrition and wellbeing all year round. Find out more about custom mineral supplementation by talking to the Agvance team today. CALL 0800 BALANCE (0800 225 262) OR VISIT AGVANCE.CO.NZ Over the last four or five years as the dairy goat industry has grown, Agvance has been adapting its 25 plus years of experience working with the dairy industry to tailor mineral and vitamin supplements to meet the growing needs of dairy goat farms across New Zealand. “We develop full premixes containing calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, salt, copper, zinc, selenium, cobalt, chromium and when required other components such as toxin binders, rumen bu†ers, yeasts and vitamins. These are seasonally adjusted, fully customized premix blends, made to meet the herds specific requirements,” explains Joel Balemi. As the dairy goat industry has grown so have demands around milk production and animal performance. Goats may be ruminants like cows, but high performing dairy goats are sensitive animals needing focused care to keep them in good health. “Bigger herds have the potential to have more problems,” explains Joel. “So a big goat farm, like Oete, takes a lot of care on the prevention side, which means they keep a close eye on their animals’ nutritional needs, which is where we come in. The goats need to be replenished with the right ingredients to meet any deficiencies, and we’re very much about tailoring our inputs according to what’s happening with the animals in terms of their feed and on their specific farm.” Using results from the Oete goats’ blood and liver tests, as well as soil and herbage tests and feed analysis, Agvance put together a comprehensive mineral blend designed to plug any gaps where falling short. They work closely with the farm and customise their blend to complement the goats’ feed and rations according to their specific needs. Fatty liver is another reasonably common issue with goats which Agvance can combat with a combination of rumen protected vitamins and amino acids in a product called Mecovit. This product helps by improving the liver’s fat metabolism to enable less ketosis, better milk production,and successful mating. Micro-nutrients have been around for many years but the science behind their use has steadily improved and Agvance has been at the front with those advances. Introducing advances such as chelated minerals for better delivery of micro-nutrients, ensuring optimum health outcomes for the farms they’re supplying. Goats have very high requirements for minerals,according to Joel. “Sulphate-based minerals simply don’t cut it for Goats. Sulphate mineral forms are stored in just a few organs, primarily the liver, whereas chelated minerals are transported to and stored in every cell of the body of the animal.” In the five years that Joel’s been working with the Oete Farm the micro-nutrient recipe might have changed a little over time, but the broad premix remains the same and he’s pleased with the results. “You can see it in the coat of the animal, they are shinier, look healthier and well fed. The feed and minerals go hand in hand and the combination is benefiting both milk production and reproduction at the same time. It’s nice to go onto farm and o†er positive solutions. It’s an ongoing relationship and it works well for everyone, as well as the goats.” Ensuring optimum health outcomes