2008/2009 outlook for goat farming

[mikey]

2008 was an interesting year for goat farming in the tropics.We wish Alaminos Goat Farm all the success they deserve,they are the real pioneers in dairy and should be credited with any and all success.Wish you the very best for 2009.

Ourselves at Mustang Sally Agri Farms, we had only marginal gains for 2008.Our climate in the central visayas, more rain over dry periods which makes goat farming more of a challenge in terms of health for our livestock.Our herd of 50 does,some purebred and some upgrades require better genetics which we feel we are unable to buy due to the fact very few farms keep accurate records for viewing and not able to track the lineage of the breed (Anglos).The bucks required for our operation is not available in the Philippines to meet our satisfaction on quality and breed standards.When one looks at the costs related to the importation of the required sires from N.America along with the possiblity of losses,makes for a poor business decision.In our case the importation of selected frozen semen makes more sense but as of now we are unable to get a clear and percise understanding from those in power in the Philippines on importing semen from N.America.

Our Anglo does given 1kg.per day of commercial concentrates,divided 2 times per day with greens are  producing milk at 180 days or 6 months before drying up are "LOW" producers,milked only once per day in the morning and fed malunggay add lib,1.2 litres of milk daily
Our "MODEST" does produce at 240-260 days or 8-81/2 months before drying up,milked once per day,1.2 litres of milk daily.

Our milk yield is where we want to be on par with Anglos from N.America if milked 2 times per day,where we are losing ground is the length of laction period,6-8-1/2 months,we need to be at the 305 day laction period.This can only be realized with better breeding genetics and so far none is available in the Philippines as of today to the best of our knowledge.The sires would come from mothers with long laction periods and good yields with sound legs and utters and good body conformation.

We have also noticed more goats in the Philippines showing up with abscesses (CL) which most likely were imported from Australia in the earlier days of importation due to the fact the importers had very little experience with breed standards and had not done their homework.Major players in the goat business always hire what is known in the industry as "Blood Stock Agents",these are professional people trained in the industry who act on behalf of the buyer not seller,look at it as a insurance policey.

Some of the recommendations given to us from people in the business from N.America(2008)
-add vinegar to the goats drinking water
-add backing soda to the goats concentrates
-try and add dried seaweed meal to the goats diet,"added vitamins and minerals"
-do not use salt blocks,goats can break off their teeth,use rock salt or table salt or even better, sea salt
-in areas with heavy rainfall,use copper sulfate hoof dips
-consider breeding a "Snubian" male purebreed Saanen bred to a purebreed Anglo doe for milk production,breed the F1 does to 2 Saanen purebreed bucks (unrelated),then breed the F2s together,should realize good milking does,look for uniformity and good production, can then be bred to Boers for the meat industry or continue breeding with Saanens or Anglos.(anglos have better flavour of meat over any other dairy breed).
-modify our deworming program(increase the length of time,instead of 2 times back to back, 3 times back to back)

Things we learned in the Philippines in 2008
-malunggay has real possibilities for the dairy industry
-IMO has real benefits for controlling smell and flies
-carbonated rice hulls or straw makes for good flooring when sprayed with IMO
-modify our deworming program
-grain fed stock require more vitimins and minerals than originally believed
-tattooing maybe better over ear tags,micro chip even better-this will be some years down the road yet




Mustang Sally Agri Farms,Region 7,Central Visayas,Philippines

[mikey]

Philippines to import goats, sheep



Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:47:00 01/06/2009

Filed Under: Livestock Farming, International (Foreign)Trade

 The Philippines plans to import this year more than 3,000 goats and sheep from Australia to help improve the quality of the local livestock breed, Australian Ambassador Rod Smith said.

Smith said the goats would be used primarily for cross-breeding, to increase meat production and to capitalize on the rising demand for goat’s milk.

He said 1,900 Boer (meat goats), Anglo Nubians and Saanens (dairy goats) and 1,200 Dorper sheep were due to arrive in the Philippines over the next two months, after a series of visits by Philippine breeders to farms in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria facilitated by the Australian Trade Commission. Amy R. Remo


"Maybe they can get it right this time and not import any CL infected goats?"

[mikey]

When we look at the goat dairy industry in the Philippines and see from where we have started from and where we want to go,there is still alot of hard work to do with breeding for the proper genetics to produce a dairy goat with uniformity or consistentcy,this takes real time and money,unless one has been blessed with incredible luck,its years of selective breeding from the premium parent stock and Grandparential stock.True,people have in the dairy business breed premium sires (bucks) with commercial does as their starting point,culled out the inferior stocks and bred only the better quality does with premium bucks,this takes time.On the other hand I see a farm like Braveheart who has imported only top quality premium goats from N.America to help supply future premium breeding bucks for the industry.This farm is already breeding from top quality genetic stock,it will still take years to get some of this top quality stock into the mainstream of farms located through the country.
True,worldwide purebreeds still play an important role in commercial dairy operations,but there are many farms with crossbreeds and mixes also in commercial dairy operations.My personal opinion is,I believe we will see a crossbreed or mix of dairy goat that will be the foundation for dairy goats in the Philippines,it might be a 2 breed cross,or 3 breed cross or 4 breed cross,at this point its too early to tell.Purebreds will always play an important role in Philippine dairy as more people venture in to niche markets,cheese is one example.
There are alot of people who have dedicated themselves to help launch the Philippine dairy goat industry and they deserve credit for achivements gained so far,wish them all the success in the future.There would be another boost to the industry once the FMD ban is lifted from the north and breeding stocks could start to flow around the country.
I guess we will wait and see where 2009 takes us.

We are working on the theory of a 3 breed crossing,starting point is the Anglo doe,bred to a Saanen then maybe the Alpine then back to the Anglo or Saanen,This will take atleast 15 years plus of breeding and researching before we produce a dairy goat suitable to the Philippine climate producing decent milk yields and laction periods.We will never produce a dairy goat producing at the same level as a temperate breed,but will produce a Philippine Dairy Goat will decent production levels,consistently.
Malunggay stats:
Leaves (per 100 grams) contain 7.5 grams water, 6.7 grams protein, 1.7 g fat, 14.3 g total carbohydrate, 0.9 grams fiber, 2.3 grams ash, and minerals, Calcium (440 mg), Phosphorus (70 mg), Iron (7 mg), Copper (110 ?g) and Vitamin A, and Vitamin C. The leaves also contain different amino acids and estrogenic substances, including the anti-tumor compound, sitosterol, and a pectinesterase.A woman needs a high calcium intake to produce milk for her baby,goats would be no different as far as we can tell.



Farmers Feed The World:

[alaminos_goatfarm]

The Year That Was, 2008 For Alaminos Goat Farm and Beyond

 
As the year comes to a close, we look back at our performance in 2008 as we lay down our plan for 2009. In 2008 we made steps forward in our goat raising operation and in 2009 we will make giant steps to make it a sustainable economic undertaking, anchored by our goat dairy operation.

In 2008 Milk Star fresh goat’s milk made history in Philippine Agriculture,  it set the record as the first fresh goat’s milk  to be sold at SM SuperMarket, SM HyperMarket and Robinson SuperMarket in Mega Manila. The introduction of Milk Star fresh goat’s milk in the super market trade is a big boost in creating awareness that goat dairying can be done in tropical Philippines. We achieved our target of 150 kilos of goat’s milk per day in July but we scaled back to 130 kilos at year's end as we fine tune production and sales.
 
For 2009, our production target is 200 kilos of goat’s milk per day by May, as our milking goats start to freshen late April and slowly increasing it by 10% in the third and fourth quarter. We will be happy to end 2009 with 250 kilos per day production.
 
Our target for 2009 is a balance growth of production with our outlets' requirement. This gives us time to plan the construction of the facilities that will house the dairy goats.  We have scaled down our growth target, experience have taught us that the short shelf life of fresh goat’s milk requires that growth of production in terms of milk volume should match what your outlets can sell within 7 days.

AGF Boer breed improvement program got a big boost when AGF 1407 emerged as Supreme champion in the First Boer Goat Show at the Agri-Link Show in October 2008. With the breed improvement program in place in 2009, we will be culling imported Boer does that have not performed within the standard we have set based on our breed improvement program. For 2009 onwards, we would focus on quality boers produce rather than quantity.

As we bring in replacement doelings coming from the top 5% of our breed improvement program in 2007 and 2008, we will cull the same number of  imported Boer does. By the last quarter of 2009, we will come up with a commercial Boer line that will be priced at affordable prices for farmers and the more expensive Boer Stud line for stud breeders.
 
The sale of pregnant does and does with kids will be pursued in 2009. It proved to be a very successful marketing tool in selling our goats in 2008. Value for money promotion would be pushed in 2009, to make Boer goats more affordable for goat raisers. We will continue to come up with sales promos in 2009, following the line of our very successful  March Double 10 promo in 2008 and the on going Holiday Promo which runs up to February 2009.
 
The experience we have gained in raising Boers in the area of nutrition and animal husbandry practices have served us well in our dairy goat operation. The system we have developed is well suited in raising dairy goats under extreme tropical condition. Our good performance in 2008 have shown that goat dairying in the Philippines can be done.  The additonal cost of feeding concentartes can be justified with the production of milk, breeders and meat from the dairy goats. This technology is being shared to all those who are interested in helping develop the dairy goat industry in the Philippines.
 
In 2009, we expect to sustain the performance of our milking herd and improve it as they mature. Experts says that as the milking goats enter their third freshening, they tend to increase milk yields on the average.

In 2008, we took note of the exceptional performance of AGF 1605 Louca Darwyn, a purebred Anglo Nubian buck. He is  prepotent and kids coming from him are showing a lot of length, height and his prominent features. We are happy with the performance of AGF Darwyn and his solid contribution to our breed improvement program. He is the cornerstone in  improving  our Mitra line which we are crossing  with a Saanen buck to develop a Philippines commercial dairy goat in 2009. We have named the product of this crossing Alaminos Mitra Saanen (AMS) cross.

In 2009, our goal is to  improve the quality of milk produce  from does selected for our dairy from this AMS cross. The AMS cross is expected to adapt better under tropical condition, capable of producing 2 litres of creamy milk per day for 300 days.
 
For 2009, research work with a government agency is being targeted to come up with a study entitled development of a commercial dairy goat in tropical Philippines. We look forward to close this deal and do colloborative work to see the completion of this research work by 2010. We will use the  result of this study as centerpiece in creating an awareness campaign in the viability of goat dairying in the country.
 
Alaminos Goat Farm is grateful for all the support and patronage it has received in 2008. We would like to say Thank You to all our customers, goat raisers, government officials and friends. We hope you continue supporting us in 2009. It is our commitment to help the goat raising industry by creating awareness with the sharing of our experiences in raising goats. Help us show that goat dairying could be a center piece for a doable agricultural development program for the Philippines in 2009 and beyond.


Visit us at http://alaminosgoatfarm.com to learn more about what we are doing.
 

   
 

[mikey]

We are happy to announce that we have teamed up with a working dairy goat farm in Texas that has been in business for 22 years and is acting as consultants for our operation.They are members of the ADGA and have many many adwards for breeding stock and milk yields with their herd,very well connected in N.America.We had submitted all our data and climate patterns in the Philippines for their evaluations.Some of their recommendations are as follows.
-management will be the key to any success
-crossbreeds make good dairy goats but only in the first crossing.Pb are not always the best milkers,a good milk doe has to have the well to milk.FF never make the best milkers, it is only from the second year to the 3rd year before an evaluation can be made,from 3rd to 10th year can be golden
-dairy goats require a high protein and calicum intake to produce milk,the ratio in the Philippines for ca-p 2.1 is too low
-feed can affect the flavor of the milk
-alfalfa hay will not grow in the Philippines,malunggay is the second best for a country like the Philippines,wet/dry to increase milk yields,dried malunggay has a higher protein level over fresh
-heavy culling is needed to produce only the best does
-the La Mancha or (American) goat milks well in a cold climate or hot climate on a consistant bases
-La Mancha would be a better choice for crossbreeding with other dairy breeds.
-goats milked 3-4 times per day produce more milk than goats milked 2 times per day
-climate in the Philippines will always be a factor in the countries ability to estabilish a goat dairy herd able to reach 305 days of lactation and milk yields of 3.8 litres per day.
-forage grasses harvested earlier may have more value over older harvested forage grasses (dp)
-goats require minerals adlib and should always be made available
-goats and sheep are very different,both require different management practices
-be realistic,the industry will not happen over night but over many many years of selective breeding and culling
-understand what the feed tag label really means on a bag of concentrates,byproducts on a label does not mean top of the line but rather lower quality ingredients
-line breeding has a better outcome for uniformity and/or consistentcy in stocks,requires a longer timetable overall
-deworming kids is so important in their first month of life,left unchecked kids will be slow to grow/mature and take on a stunted or runt look
-deworming the dam a few days after kidding helps solve scours,after a dam kids there is a signal to her body to hatch any worm eggs she might be carrying
-wethers are more prone to UC once they start eating concentrates,AC (ammonium chloride) added to their concentrates helps correct this problem,mostly a management issue
-seaweed meal is a good source of minerals and vitamins,should be made available adlib
-long boned does will produce more milk over short boned does,long boned does eat more and have the capacity to produce more milk,larger udder,never breed 2 short boned dairy goats together
-milk fever and ketosis are management issues,does provided with proper care suffer less problems

We are not in the business of dairy but trying to understand what/how genetics will play in this important role for dairy Philippines.Our herd is what it is,a research herd,breeding for success.
The very best to all participates in this exciting venture.

Mustang Sally Agri.Farm Region-7