Officials head to Brussels to plead for Cyprus goats
By Elias Hazou

OFFICIALS of the Ministry of Agriculture are hastening to Brussels to make their case that goats and sheep infected with scrapie pose no health hazard to humans and should not be put to the slaughter.

Scrapie, found in sheep, is similar to BSE, or mad cow disease. But while scrapie is believed to pose no threat to human health, the human equivalent of mad cow disease, variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease has claimed at least 100 lives.

The matter has resurfaced after France’s Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) cited fresh scientific evidence suggesting it was possible for scrapie to jump species. The French authority is calling for a destruction of all infected herds and/or a total ban on exports.

If adopted, the French proposal would deal a hammer blow to livestock farming in Cyprus, as an estimated 130,000 (or 35 per cent) of goats and sheep here are tainted with the disease.

In March 2007, the European Food Safety Authority’s BIOHAZ panel concluded that there is no evidence for an epidemiological or molecular link between classical and/or atypical scrapie and TSEs (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy) in humans. The BSE agent is the only TSE agent that can be transmitted from infected animals to humans.

However, the Panel recommended that more research should be carried out to assess the exposure risk from milk, in particular in the case of atypical scrapie and BSE, and to evaluate what would happen to these TSE agents if and when milk from affected sheep flocks or goat herds is processed for consumption as milk or other dairy products.

Calling France’s position “extreme”, Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis has pledged to fight the cause of Cyprus’ dairy farming to the bitter end.

Nicosia is countering with a proposal that products from tainted animals should still be allowed to be sold only in the country of origin. A delegation from the Agriculture Ministry is heading out to Brussels to plead its case before the European Commission, although reports yesterday said the omens were not good.

The farmers themselves are convinced their livelihood is on the line.

Panayiotis Constandinou, head of the Goat Farmers’ Association, said yesterday that even if the European Commission were to accept the Cypriot proposal, the dairy sector would be devastated regardless.

“Which Cypriot consumer will feel comfortable buying goat milk, if it’s not good enough for other Europeans?” asked Constandinou.

In addition to the immediate impact of culling 130,000 animals, he said, sales of halloumi would plummet due to insufficient milk supplies.

Moreover, Constandinou blamed authorities for lax controls, claiming that health inspectors did less than a thorough job of examining tainted farms. As a result, scrapie was allowed to spread.

“We are fed up. Why is it that goat farming is always singled out?” he said.



Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

Young Putnam farmer successful with goats
Posted by Leanne Smith, The Livingston Community News November 14, 2008 00:00AM
Categories: Features

JAMIE CHARBENEAU-PISELLA, THE LIVINGSTON COMMUNITY NEWS
Tom Chambers with one of his Alpine dairy goats. Chambers, 18, is building a business among people who prefer fresh goat milk.BY LEANNE SMITH
The Livingston Community News

A sixth-generation Putnam Township farmer has found an innovative way to use goats to help pay for college and contribute to the preservation of the family farm.

Since March, Tom Chambers, 18, has been selling shares in his goat herd to those who like the health and digestive benefits of goat milk.

"You can't sell raw milk in Michigan, but there are a lot of people who really want it because it's natural and healthy," he said. "They sign a contract with me that gives them part ownership of my herd, and that entitles them to the milk."

To date, Chambers is milking eight Alpine goats in his Heavenly Dairy and has sold about a dozen shares in his herd to local families and others from Ann Arbor and beyond. He hopes to build up to 30 shares.



JAMIE CHARBENEAU-PISELLA, THE LIVINGSTON COMMUNITY NEWS
Chambers milks one of his eight Alpine goats at his Heavenly Dairy. To date, he has sold about a dozen shares in his herd to local families and others from Ann Arbor and beyond.
"Most of the people have children with milk allergies or digestive problems and the goat milk is easier to digest," he said. "Some of them just want to be more healthy."

Shareholders pay $60 a year to lease part of the herd and $50 per month for care and management of the animals. That gives them a gallon and a half of goat milk per week. Hamburg Township's Irene Robinson has two shares, which she purchased after the birth of her granddaughter.

"My daughter went all organic when she was pregnant, and we wanted the milk for the baby after she stopped nursing," Robinson said. "My granddaughter is 19 months old now and she's thriving. She's never had a cold or illness."

Her desire to support local farmers also played into Robinson's purchase of the goat milk shares, she said.

"Any food we can get that's produced locally is better for us and for the local farmers," she said. "You know it hasn't traveled miles on trucks."

Chambers hopes to get a degree in agriculture from Michigan State University and continue the farm that was started by his great- great-great-grandfather, William Chambers, in 1875. He's taking classes at Lansing Community College to get started.

His parents, Keith and Jennifer Chambers, say they are thrilled that the eldest of their four children wants to carry on the farm, which grows hay and field corn and has a pumpkin patch, petting zoo and a robust sweet corn business.

"Tom has worked very hard to develop and improve his herd," Jennifer Chambers said. "We're really proud of his dedication."

Chambers has been assisted in his venture by Tim and Robin Leonard, owners of Garden Patch Farm, a certified organic farm east of Pinckney.

"Tom is so mature, and he knows goats and farming, and he's not afraid of hard work," Robin Leonard said. "We probably get two to five calls a week from people wanting goat milk, and we refer them all to Tom."

Goats might be firefighters of the future By Joanna Dodder Nellans, The Daily Courier

Settler Valley Ranch goats chomp away at thick chaparral at the United Christian Youth Camp in Prescott. 
 
 
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As more and more homes pop up in the Prescott region, public land managers and fire agencies always are on the lookout for new ways to keep down vegetation to control wildfires in developed areas.

Rod and Tanya Baker think they've found a great option with their goats, and they're already starting to convince local fire officials.

"I hope this will be a way to diversify how WUI (wildland-urban interface) areas deal with creating defensible space against fire," Tanya Baker said. "This is another tool for the toolbox."

   


 

Wildfire is the most common natural threat in the Prescott Basin.

"This is a natural form of fire abatement, so hopefully this will be something that all types of people - environmentalists, traditionalists - can like," Baker said.

Because of the proximity to homes, prescribed burning often is not an option for reducing overgrown vegetation in the WUI.

The goats don't create smoke like prescribed burns and don't make noise like chainsaws, Baker added.

She is working with the Prescott Area Wildland/Urban Interface Commission (PAWUIC) on a three-month pilot project to see whether the goats can be a cost-effective tool in the Prescott Basin.

The commission is paying for the experiment in the heart of Prescott at the United Christian Youth Camp, east of Hassayampa Lane.

"I'm really impressed with what is going on out there, and the potential benefits to the Prescott area," PAWUIC Chair Everett Warnock said.

About 70 South African female Boer meat goats, an all-around farm breed, are chomping away at thick brush surrounding the camp cabins.

"They've done a lot to get rid of ground fuels," observed Kris Mengarelli, who is in charge of facilities at the camp. Hundreds of campers have come through, and camp officials say they have heard no complaints about smell or anything.

Hassayampa Lane drivers might get a glimpse of the horned browsers standing on their hind legs and chowing on the chaparral.

After some pre-clearing by an Arizona Department of Corrections fuels management crew, the Bakers are erecting a series of electric fences to keep the goats off the road and the predators off the goats, despite the strong presence of coyotes.

The goats' next stop Thursday will be the City of Prescott's Community Nature Center Open Space Preserve off Williamson Valley Road.

"That's a real critical area because it's just south of the Yakashba Estates," Prescott Fire Chief Darrell Willis said.

The Bakers and their daughter Mikayla hope to make their Settler Valley Ranch in Dewey a full-time operation with the help of similar goat jobs in the future.

They all are natives to this area. Tanya grew up raising 4-H goats, cattle and sheep in Dewey. She also volunteers for PAWUIC, 4-H and the Farm Bureau.

So far, Tanya estimates the 70 goats eat through one acre of thick chaparral in about four days. The test plots will help determine how many goats to use and how long to keep them in an enclosure, said Bruce Olson, a PAWUIC technical advisor who works for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Mikayla Baker is helping monitor what the goats eat as part of a home schooling science project while the family lives at the camp.

The goats don't compete with cattle for forage, said Dwayne Warrick, a local range management consultant who is helping set up the test plots. It is common to see goats and cattle side-by-side on Texas ranches, he said.

The goats can help convert invasive chaparral landscapes back to grass, added Rich Van Demark, a forester and PAWUIC member.

It can cost $500-$1,000/acre to use machinery and hand tools to cut back vegetation in the WUI, and officials will calculate the cost of the goats in this experiment.

PAWUIC members also want to see how the goats affect archaeological sites.

While the Prescott National Forest and other national forests in this area have found goats useful, the Forest Service would have to amend its agreement with the State Historic Preservation Office to use the goats in any widespread fashion because the agreement doesn't cover goats right now, said Ed Paul, fuels management official on the Prescott Forest. Otherwise, extensive archaeological survey costs could make the projects cost prohibitive.

PAWUIC sponsored a tour of the pilot project last week, and officials from government agencies throughout the region attended, as well as some homeowner association members looking for options.

They heard Kathy Voth talk about a previously successful experiment that she and others conducted on a National Guard camp in Utah.

That project worked so well that the National Guard bought her goats and still uses them, Voth said.

"You guys have given me a lot of hope," Voth told the Prescott crowd.

(To learn more about using goats for defensible space, see the Internet at www.SettlerValleyRanch.com and livestockforlandscapes.com. The Bakers also are offering public tours; call 710-3700.)

Contact the reporter at jdodder@prescottaz.com




 


Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Article comment by: No name provided

For many years I rode in the mountians of Southern California and it was not unusual to see goat hearders, the state hired them to clear the vegetation every year.

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Article comment by: Rancher up north

Makes perfect sense! My goats are asking where to apply! A guy in LA was recently in the news with 100 of his South African Boers. Goat herder and his wife, a vet, rented their 4-legged work crew for $3,000 and all the brush the goats could eat clearing a 2 1/2 acre hillside (45-degree slope) downtown lot. Electric fence used to protect the goats. Not bad pay for a guy for 10 days. Human workers and machinery would have cost around $7,500, taken longer, faced more challenges, wouldn't have been as environmentally friendly, and would have lacked the entertainment value for the downtown workers who got to watch the critters in action from their skyscraper windows and at lunch! Hard to believe there are folks in the world who've never seen a goat up close and personal, but some of those folks were so excited, they went home to get their human kids to take them to see Nature at work!

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Article comment by: American Citizen

Enough burning...goats, goats, and more goats !!!

Posted: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Article comment by: Rich

The PNF used goats to clear vegetation around Ponderosa Park a few years back and declared it a success. They have yet to use them again. They would rather spend more money on burns.

 

Tuesday November 18, 2008
Showcase of agri and aqua produce at Sarawak Farmers Day
By SHARON LING


A RECENT agricultural exhibition held in conjunction with the state-level Farmers Day attracted the masses, drawing both young and old to the show.

The exhibition at the State Indoor Stadium featured a wide range of agricultural and aquaculture produce as well as agriculture-related technologies and products.

The livestock display outside the stadium proved to be one of the popular attractions.

The Agriculture Department’s veterinary division exhibited goats, cows and chickens while one or two farms exhibited their animals.

Veterinary officer Dr Andrea Lim said the department bred Boer goats imported from Australia at its Temudok station in Sri Aman.

”We introduced Boer goats as they are bigger than local goats.

“Sometimes, we cross them with local breeds to get bigger animals,” she said, adding that Boer goats were bred for meat.

Other imported goats bred by the department are the Kalahari and Jamnapuri, also meat-producing breeds.

Several breeds of chicken were also exhibited, including the Sasso for its meat and the Isa Brown for its eggs.

In addition to the displays, visitors could check out the sale of fruits, vegetables and food products or attend cooking demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan said the state’s efforts to modernise agriculture was showing positive results.

He said there was evidence pointing to a change in the mindset of farmers.

“There are a number of commercial farms established by private entrepreneurs.

“There are also farms that have been accredited under the Malaysian good agricultural practices scheme,” he said at the Farmers Day opening.

Cape Coast, Nov. 17, GNA - Kojo Forson, a 25-year-old driver who allegedly conspired with Mahamadi Mumuni, a butcher, and stole a car and loaded it with goats to Accra were on Friday granted GH¢5,000 and GH¢6,000 bail respectively by a circuit court in Cape Coast. Forson pleaded guilty with explanation but Mumuni pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy and stealing. Chief Inspector Hope Azasoo told the court that on October 26 a teacher who owns the vehicle parked it outside the house overnight but found out in the morning that it had been stolen. The prosecution said the complainant reported the case at the Cape Coast central police station and investigations revealed that Forson had been seen driving the car.

Forson confessed that he stole the vehicle with Mumuni and one Baba Issaka who is at large and drove it to Accra with goats but when it developed a mechanical fault they left it and came to Cape Coast. The prosecutor said Mumuni led the police to where the vehicle was left in Accra. 17 Nov 08

Couple raises Angora goats and process the hair at their Texas Fiber Mill
Denise Gamino, Grand Forks Agweek
Published: 11/17/2008
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 BLUE, Texas — Deborah and Jim Sharp are living a dream they didn’t know they had.

Jim, whose face is being overtaken by a white beard he started in June after retiring from 38 years as a children’s cancer doctor, sits under the vital shade of a blackjack oak. Deborah, in jeans and a teal blue medical scrubs top, stands nearby with a goat whose mohair fleece is so thick and long you can barely see its eyes.

The Sharps are hosting a barnyard barbershop.

They have 75 colored Angora goats, and most are in need of their twice-a-year shearing. Another 60 or so fluffy goats milling about belong to other Angora goat raisers from across Central Texas who came to get haircuts for their animals, too.

“Maaaaah, maaaah,” cries an unhappy charcoal-colored goat. Third-generation shearer Stephen Franco of Rocksprings, Texas, flips over the goat and runs an electric clipper over its legs and belly. Then, in an eye blink, he ties the goat’s four legs with a thin leather thong so he can shear the long, spiraled locks on the animal’s sides, back and head.

“Maaaaah, maaaaah,” cries the upside-down goat, its pink tongue flitting in and out to reveal a row of bright white teeth. Franco, who’s won medals for shearing in the Calgary, Alberta, rodeo, can shear a large goat in just three minutes.

Shearing day

Shearing day is a time-honored chore on fiber farms. But there’s something unusual about this early summer ritual at Inglenook Farms, the Sharps’ home about 45 miles northeast of Austin, Texas.

For the first time, the curly mohair fleeces, many weighing more than 10 pounds, won’t be going far from this outdoor pen. Just 150 yards away is a fiber mill that can wash and process fleeces into yarn.

Deborah and Jim Sharp have raised goats here for just five years, but in January, they launched a project unique in Texas.

They invested more than $200,000 to start the Texas Fiber Mill, the only place in the state open to anyone with fiber-producing animals, whether common or exotic. The mill uses large machines to wash the fleeces, separate and comb the fibers into long strands and then spin them into yarn.

“We’ve processed quite a bit of mohair and alpaca,” Deborah Sharp says. “We’ve also processed quite a bit of llama and some cashmere and some buffalo and various kinds of wool.

“We haven’t yet processed camel or yak.”

The fiber will be sold to knitters, crocheters, handspinners, weavers and others interested in the fiber arts, which are experiencing an explosion of international interest.

And the fiber industry is feeling the same “buy local” movement as the food industry. Consumers want to know who grew their food, and knitters want to know who raised the animals and spun the fiber they use. The Texas Fiber Mill allows farmers and ranchers to process their fleeces close to home and gives artists and hobbyists the opportunity to buy yarn and roving that comes from animals on the farm down the road. Roving is a long rope of loose fiber used to hand-spin yarn.

Fiber mill

Until the fiber mill opened, some central Texas fiber animal farmers shipped their fleeces to New England or the Rocky Mountains for processing. Some even used mills as far away as Peru, Mexico and Canada.

The Texas Fiber Mill is what is known in the industry as a mini-mill or a micro-spinnery.

The mini-mills are “the only part of the (textile) industry that is growing,” says Chris Lupton, a research scientist specializing in fiber at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Center in San Angelo. “Everything else is moving to China.”

The story of how Jim Sharp, a 71-year-old pediatric oncologist, and wife Deborah, a 51-year-old clinical social worker a dissertation short of a doctorate, came to open a fiber mill in the post oak savannah near the tiny town of Blue, about 15 miles northeast of Elgin, Texas, has as many twists and curls as a skein of lustrous mohair yarn.

They had met in 1987 under heartbreaking circumstances. Deborah’s daughter, 7-year-old Jonna Daughn, was diagnosed with leukemia and was being treated by Jim Sharp, who at that time was the only pediatric oncologist in Austin. Jonna fought cancer for 2½ years, but died May 20, 1990.

Afterward, Deborah became executive director of the Austin-area Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation, a support organization for children with cancer and their families. Her work brought her into regular contact with Jim, and a romance blossomed. Deborah and Jim married in 1995.

Starting up

Both Jim and Deborah Sharp are drawn to animals and the natural world. Jim has a green thumb for roses, and Deborah raised milk goats when her four daughters were young. It was a dog that brought them to the community of Blue. In early 2003, they bought a Vizsla, a Hungarian breed that needs lots of room to run. They began looking for a weekend home in the country. They bought 40 acres outside Blue and named their place Inglenook Farms, not knowing exactly what they would do with the land.

After much research, the couple decided to raise colored Angora goats, whose fleeces can be black, silver, brown, honey or even mixed. Most Angora goats, like most sheep, are white.

“We talked about the fact that we sure didn’t like the idea of raising animals for slaughter,” Deborah says. “That was not going to add joy to our lives. And Jim’s work has always been very emotionally taxing. We wanted something that was going to add joy to our lives. Something beautiful, having baby goats and the kids born every year. The idea of renewal. We wanted it to be a place of renewal for both of us.”

Their inquiries led them to Lisa Shell, an experienced fiber artist who had raised colored Angora goats for two decades. By serendipity, Shell lives only five miles down the road and quickly became a good friend and mentor. One of her colored bucks had especially spiraled locks and spiral horns. That caught the Sharps’ attention because of their affinity for labyrinths and circles.

“We shared a history of cancer and death and dying and loss, and part of the way of understanding that is that life and death are all part of the same cycles and that life is a journey, somewhat like a labyrinth, that you follow your path not really knowing where you’re going to end up, and to a certain extent you have to operate on faith and enjoy the moment rather than being completely about your destination,” Deborah says.

Intensive care

The Sharps began with nine goats, including some purchased from Shell. They later bought two alpacas, which are housed in a barn away from the goat pens.

When their original goats were sheared, Deborah learned to wash fleeces by hand. After ruining a lot of fiber, she realized the task of processing the first 70 pounds of mohair fleece by hand was unrealistic. She decided to work with a fiber mill in Biddeford, Maine.

When the Sharps bought their first goats, “we didn’t realize we were talking about hundreds of pounds of fiber,” Deborah says. “If you’re holding a handful of kid mohair, that’s glorious stuff. But if you have a hundred pounds of raw mohair, that’s overwhelming.”

The Sharps are conscientious goat raisers and put long hours into their care. Two winters ago, an ice storm froze one newborn kid and another kid was abandoned by its mother after it became chilled. Deborah brought the kids indoors and kept them warm in a bathtub filled with towels. She bottle-fed little Nippy and Charlotte for almost a week until the weather warmed enough for them to live outdoors.

In just a few years, the Sharps’ goats gained national attention. In 2006, they won grand champion doe and best fleece on animal at the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association national show in Sedalia, Mo. In 2007, at the Wool Festival in Taos, N.M., they won best fiber goat fleece for the mohair shorn from Charlotte, one of the rescued kids.

Deborah also learned to knit and spin yarn on a spinning wheel. She helped form the Blue Earth Guild, a small group of knitters and spinners who meet once a month at Inglenook Farms. During the past few years, the conversations at those gatherings often centered on fiber mills: What are you going to do with your fiber? What mill are you using? Where is the closest mill?

“It would always come back to ‘I wish there were a mill around here,’” Deborah says. “And, ‘We should just open a mill here.’”

Then, an unexpected letter arrived last August. The woman who owned the fiber mill in Maine needed to sell her equipment to move overseas to be closer to family.

Deborah stood in her kitchen as she read the letter. Jim sat at the nearby table. She handed him the letter and said, “We ought to do this.”

He read it. “Yes, we should,” he said.

They went to Maine in early November to visit the Fibre Co. The trip sealed the deal. Less than two weeks later, Deborah had a booth of her fiber for sale at Kid and Ewe, an annual fiber festival in Boerne, Texas. She passed out a small flier that said “Shhh . . . Tell only your closest friends. There is a new fiber processing mill opening in Texas in January! Quick turn-around times!”

Word spread faster than a half-finished sweater can unravel.

By the time the equipment arrived in late January, almost 100 pounds of fiber had arrived to be processed as well as 75 pounds of roving to be spun.

“We were overwhelmed by the response,” Deborah says. “People were trying to come to the mill before the equipment was here. It was clear that Texas needed a mill.”

“We didn’t really plan on doing what we’re doing,” says the soft-spoken Jim Sharp. “But it worked out and it’s great.”

Goats Part of Growing Farming Trend
Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2008 ; 06:14 PM
Updated Tuesday, November 18, 2008 ; 07:01 PM

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The US Department of Agriculture says more people are raising meat goats, both here in West Virginia and across the country.
Story by Hilary Magacs
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WESTON -- Larry Burns is a farmer in Weston. He raises meat goats and sells them to other people interested in becoming meat goat farmers. He says the number of people getting into the meat goat industry is rising.

"We've sold a good many locally, but we've also sold them in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia. We've sold some in Tennessee," says Burns.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says demand for goat meat is rising. USDA officials say that is because a variety of ethnic groups who prefer goat meat has increased in the United States, including those of Middle Eastern, Latin American and Caribbean heritage. The USDA says the number of meat goats in West Virginia has increased by 14 percent since last year. Aside from increased demand, farmers say meat goats are easier to raise.

"The Boers can survive on ground that cows can't. Because they eat the weeds, what we call trash, brush and stuff, they would rather have that than the grass," says Burns.

Burns says goats can also be raised on smaller plots of land. That's the reason Cheryl Boner says she switched to goat farming.

"We have 60 acres, but it still wasn't enough for the cattle we needed to keep, so we - well, we had sheep so we got rid of the cows and got the goats," says Boner.

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture says the demand for goat meat is so high right now that $1.5 million of goat meat is imported to the U.S. every week.

Burns says female goats sell for about $400 dollars locally. He says male goats are about $150 dollars.


Copyright 2008 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

Use oil palm plantations as grazing land for goats


I REFER to the news report “Twin challenges to one million goats target” (The Star, Dec 3) in which the Veterinary Services Department director-general Datuk Dr Aziz Jamaluddin was reported to have said that the industry would not be able meet the one million goats target in the National Goats Industry Development Plan without investments from private companies.

The plan is to meet 35% self-sufficiency in goat meat production and he identified the biggest challenge as land and money.

There is a little over four million hectares of land under oil palm cultivation in Malaysia. The fronds of oil palm trees (unlike mature rubber trees) do not completely block out sunlight from reaching the ground and this allows grass to grow between the rows of trees throughout the year.

The grass available for grazing in the four million hectares under oil palm would provide more than sufficient grazing area for the one million goats.

The plantation saves on weeding costs by using the free non-unionised labour of the grazing goats.

Palm fronds that are pruned can also be processed and fed to goats confined to stalls under the feed-lot system of management.

The management also saves on fertiliser costs from the goat droppings and urine which help improve soil texture.

The investment in goat rearing by the plantation management will provide a second income from the same land - which can mitigate low palm oil prices.

It would be a colossal waste of national resources not to use the untapped potential of the vast areas under oil palm cultivation for goat rearing, which could earn additional income for the estate and at the same time achieve our aim of meeting 35% of our demand for goat meat.

M. GANESHADEVA,

Kuala Lumpur.

 Friday, December 12, 2008   
 
 

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City faces shortage of sacrificial animals

 * Animal prices increase by 300 percent two days before Eid
* Residents face great difficulty in purchasing animals at reasonable prices, most made purchases on third day of Eid at high prices
* Animal traders say bad experiences have forced them to transport animals to Karachi market for higher profit margins

By Rana Kashif

LAHORE: There was a severe shortage of sacrificial animals in the city’s cattle markets during the three days of Eidul Azha, forcing many people to celebrate the festival without offering qurbani.

According to sources, a large number of people had gone out on Monday, the night before Eid, to purchase sacrificial animals at cheap rates, but were disappointed to see that almost every bakar mandi was out of animals. The unprecedented shortage caused a drastic increase in the prices of animals that were left, and a large number of people were found to be moving desperately from one sale point to another.

This resulted in many people failing to perform the act of qurbani on Eidul Azha, and they demanded the district government ensure arrangements to prevent such situations in future. According to residents, the prices of sacrificial animals had increased by 300 percent throughout the city during the two days before Eid.

Residents: A resident of Walton Road, Muhammad Akhtar, said that he had visited Walton Road, Pico Road, Chungi Amersidhu, Township, and Bank Stop in search of an animal. He said that he failed to find an animal that did not have an outrageously high price attached to it. He said that this was the first time in his life that he had failed to perform the act of qurbani, adding that this happened due to high prices and lack of government intervention.

A resident of Ferozepur Road said that he failed to purchase an animal despite visiting at least seven sale points. He demanded the district government ensure the availability of sacrificial animals in the city during the three days of Eid. He said that the situation called for the need of a mechanism to fix the prices of sacrificial animals.

Similarly, various other people complained that they faced great difficulty in finding an animal, adding that they had finally made a purchase on the third day of Eid at a very high price. They said that most of the animals available for qurbani on the third day of Eid were those that were sold for sadqa in normal circumstances.

Animal traders: Those involved in the business of selling animals identified two reasons for the shortage of animals. An animal trader from Bahawalnagar, Mukhtar Ali, said that he brought 300 to 500 animals to the city from various villages on Eidul Azha. He said that during the past two years, he had experienced a decline in business, which had provoked him to bring only 100 goats this year. He said that he sold the 100 goats with a low margin until the noon before the Eid, as unfriendly weather had been expected. He said that he had sold all his animals well before Eid, adding that those traders who had retained animals were then charging exceptionally high prices for their animals, which were in high demand.

A seller from Sahiwal, Abdul Haq, said that he brought only 110 goats and sheep to the city’s market. He said that he had previously been bringing up to 300 animals to the city markets every year, adding that due to bad experiences in the past, he decided to bring only 110 animals this year. He said that, similarly, many other animal traders had brought fewer animals to the city’s market. He disclosed that animal traders preferred to transport their animals to the Karachi market, where they could earn higher profit margins. However, it was learnt that the availability of animals in other cities, including Sargodha and Faisalabad, was quite economical because of the rain, which helped decrease the prices of cattle.

 
 

Inland Muslims slaughter goats, other animals to mark Eid al-Adha


 
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10:00 PM PST on Monday, December 8, 2008

By DAVID OLSON
The Press-Enterprise

Each year since he was a child in Pakistan, Shahid Hussain has participated in the ritual slaughtering of a goat to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God.

Monday morning, the Corona man was at a Chino farm with more than 100 other Muslims on the first day of Eid al-Adha, a three-day holiday also called the Festival of Sacrifice. Hussain, 44, said prayers before sacrificing the goat and, after taking the fresh meat home, held a big feast with family and friends.

Eid al-Adha is one of the most important days on the Islamic calendar. It marks the end of Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims are to make once in their lifetimes, if they are able. Traditionally, Muslims attend prayers at a mosque on Eid and eat the meat of a newly slaughtered animal with family and friends.

The slaughter of the animal commemorates Abraham's obedience to God's command to sacrifice his son. God viewed that willingness as proof of Abraham's love and submission, so he allowed Abraham to sacrifice a lamb instead of his son, according to Muslim teaching.

Traditional Jewish and Christian teaching is similar.

The slaughter is done quickly. If it's a goat -- as is traditional in Pakistan -- it's done with a slit to the throat with a knife, so the animal dies quickly and does not feel pain, Hussain said.

"In respect to the animal, we do not show the knife before," he said.

Prayers are said and the name of Allah is repeated.

The ritual was repeated at farms and slaughterhouses throughout Southern California on Monday.

The first day of Eid al-Adha is traditionally when the slaughter is done, but some people do so on the second or third days, said Shahid Rangoonwala, owner of Spice It Up Halal Market and Grill in Corona.

Rangoonwala and 10 family members, employees and contract workers arrived at the Chino farm at dawn Monday to begin the slaughtering of about 100 animals.

Most were goats. A few were lambs or cows, he said.

Many people prefer to hire Rangoonwala or other Muslim-meat merchants to sacrifice their animals. They then pick up their meat from the shop later in the day.

The meat is divided into three portions and put into plastic bags. Traditionally, a third of the meat is for family members, a third for friends and a third for the poor.

Many people do not slaughter or buy their own meat, but instead donate money to Islamic charities that then sacrifice animals on behalf of the poor, said Munira Syeda, spokeswoman for the greater Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In most of the Muslim world, Eid al-Adha is a holiday, so people have more time to go to a farm or slaughterhouse to make the sacrifice, she said.

Hussain took Monday and today off from his job as an MRI technician for the festivities.

On Saturday, he and about a dozen others from the Islamic Society of Corona-Norco will travel to south Los Angeles to donate meat to low-income members of a mosque there.

The donation is a key part of Eid al-Adha, he said.

"Not everyone can afford to buy a lamb or goat," Hussain said. "This way, they will get the joy of the festival, too."

Reach David Olson

Adding value to dairy goats
Fiona Allan

December 24, 2008
PRODUCING half the nation's goat milk is all in a day's work for John Gommans and Penny Gandar.

The couple milk 3000 goats out of a total herd of 5000 on their Trafalgar farm in central Gippsland in Victoria.

This is more than triple the number of milkers they had when the operation kicked off three years ago, yet demand for their product continues to outstrip supply.

The couple ran the biggest dairy goat operation in New Zealand and still oversee their 2000-goat dairy at Hamilton on the north island.

However they saw more opportunity to expand in Australia.

John and Penny now have the largest dairy goat operation in Australia and their business is going from strength to strength with growing demand for dairy goat products worldwide.

The pair also own and operate a milk factory at Dandenong where their milk is value added into powdered, long-life product that is exported all over the world.

Formerly cow dairy farmers, it was Penny who first realised the potential of dairy goats. They began seriously farming goats in 2000.

Originally they came to Australia looking for a manufacturing plant to take back to NZ, but when they arrived here in 2005, they were offered a complete small-scale factory and opted to stay.

They now employ eight full-time staff to help run the Victorian operation, which revolves around their 270ha farm at Trafalgar.

It runs along similar lines to a cow dairy in that goats are milked twice a day on a rotary platform, however farm management is quite different.

The dairy and sheds are custom designed for goats, including a 100-stand rotary and four open-sided hangars where the goats are housed on sawdust beds.

The rotary can milk 1000 goats an hour with three people.

Dedicated milkers are employed and work split shifts starting at 5am with each milking taking four hours.

There are 12 staff, including milkers, a stock feeder, yardman, kid manager, maintenance person and a factory manager and factory staff.

Permanent staff work four days on, four days off.

The goats are run in eight different mobs of about 600 head according to different kidding times.

They are housed in sheds to prevent disease but always have access to fresh, clean feed.

John said shedding the goats eliminated worm burdens and they were fatter and healthier than paddock-run goats.

"Our goats do close to double the production of those on grass," he said.

Unlike a cow dairy, the goats are not fed in the bale at milking time. They are fed cut pasture, silage and a mix of barley and lupins all provided ad lib throughout the day. Pasture is harvested in a single pass and immediately fed to goats in the shed.

John said because the pastures were not being selectively grazed by stock, maintaining the quality of preferred species was tricky.

"Quality is a real issue because when we cut it we take it all and there is no selection," he said.

Feed for the goats includes chicory, plantain and red and white clovers and also maize.

"Fertility transfer is a problem because all the feed gets harvested and removed from the paddocks," John said.

All effluent and manure is returned to the paddocks to offset fertility transfer and counter the high price of fertiliser.

"But we still have to balance the nutrients out so we have no choice but to buy some fertiliser."

Goats are mostly Saanen, British Alpine and Toggenburg breeds, chosen for their high milk production.

They are mated over a six month period and have a 155-day gestation.

Penny said once goats became ill they were difficult to cure so it was important to manage the farm to prevent disease.

The sheds mean goats don't get wet, cold or sick and they stay clean.

Cleanliness is one of the main benefits of goats compared to cows.

"We like milking them because they are nice and clean, they are easy to handle and they've got character," Penny said.

Each goat can produce 800 to 900 litres per lactation and has a milking life of four to five years.

When John and Penny first started they were told there was a market for 250,000 litres of fresh goat's milk per year but this year they have produced 10 times that.

He said historically goat's milk has been seasonal so there were peaks and troughs in supply.

Year-round milking has helped to even out supply but there were still peaks.

The factory enables the couple to supply fresh milk when demand is highest and value add into powdered, long-shelf life products in periods of over-supply.

Producing large quantities of high quality milk all year round gives processors a certainty of supply.

The milk is picked up every one to two days and delivered to the factory or direct to processors and fresh food companies.

At their factory, John and Penny produce fresh milk, yoghurt and milk powders that are marketed under the GoLife brand.

The product is sold locally and exported to countries including Japan, Vietnam and China and is also sold in New Zealand. Other South East Asian markets are also being targeted.

Two companies, Alpine and Organic by Nature, conduct the retail arm of the business.

John said they would export 50 tonnes of product this year, while the other 200 tonnes will stay in Australia.

"There is a lot of interest in goat products so there is a lot of room to grow," he said.

Penny said that many people believed they were "better off" with goat's milk than cow's milk.

"It is easier to digest and popular with those who have sensitivities to dairy (cow's milk)," she said.

The farm at Trafalgar is now running at capacity and John and Penny are considering expansion with another property.

"We are not about to sit still," Penny said. "We will go as far as it will take us."

Boer goats an investment in learning, winning

By Pete Kendall/reporter@trcle.com

JOSHUA — The Boer cross goats you’ll see in the Johnson County Junior Livestock Show beginning Feb. 25 are more than projects. They’re investments.

It’s still possible to pay a few hundred dollars for what’s known as a show goat. It’s also possible to spend more, much more.

“The most I’ve seen paid for a show goat is $6,200,” said Joshua goat producer Ronnie Galbreath. “Someone who pays that is shooting for the big shows ... Houston, San Antonio.

“But just because somebody paid a lot doesn’t mean that animal is guaranteed to do well. I’ve seen a lot of high-dollar goats that didn’t even make it to the show. They can get sick and die. They have to turn out.”

Theoretically, youths exhibit animals to learn from the experience. And they learn plenty, such as responsibility and punctuality.

But everyone likes to win, too, which has contributed to driving up the price of the Boer crosses and other animal projects.

“The show goat industry took off about 10 years ago,” Galbreath said. “It was an easier project than some others. You could keep a goat in a lot of places you couldn’t keep something like a pig. It didn’t cost as much to feed the goats.

“Goats passed lambs in popularity four or five years ago. Buying a show goat back then wasn’t as expensive as buying a show lamb. Now, that’s gone the other direction. The goats are more expensive, so the lambs are coming back. All three smaller species — goats, lambs, pigs — are pretty expensive projects.

“Everyone who goes in the show ring wants to win. Some go to an extreme and spend a lot of money. My wife tells me we probably could have bought three or four castles for what we used to spend on show steers and pigs for our kids.”

Dropping thousands on a show goat won’t compensate for raising the goat improperly.

“A lot of work goes into showing,” Galbreath said. “You’ve got to exercise the goat to develop the muscle. Some exercise them with dogs. Some use ATVs to go out and chase the goats. Some use treadmills. They have to be exercised, and you have to spend time with them.”

Galbreath isn’t in the show goat business to make his fortune.

“I sell most of mine to kids around here,” he said. “I could probably get more if I took them somewhere else. But this is a hobby for me. I don’t want it to be a job. I enjoy seeing the kids compete. I try to sell the goats to kids who will take care of them and work with them.”

Can someone spend an excessive amount for a show animal?

“You’d think so,” Galbreath said, “but the economy is good in the show business. I thought validations might be down for the county show, but we have as many as we’ve had in the past and maybe more. On the pig side, I know it’s more.”

He sold about 20 show goats this year.

“I don’t have as many does as I used to,” Galbreath said. “The older I get, the less work I do.”

He keeps track of what he sells.

“The kids let me know how they do,” Galbreath said. “A lot of them will be at the county show. Last year, I’d say 80 percent of mine made sale at the county show. We’ve had some in the top 10 at Fort Worth and other bigger shows.”

The population of the county has something to do with the popularity of junior livestock shows and jackpots.

“The county is growing, and there’s more participation,” Galbreath said.

For those who care to judge with their own eyes, a show goat looks like, well, a show goat.

“Big-boned legs, wide underneath, level top, tail sitting high, good extension on the neck,” Galbreath said. “They carry themselves like they think they’re show goats.”

To get a Boer cross show goat, you first have to breed for it. That’s almost a science in itself.

“I breed a Spanish nanny or Nubian nanny to a Boer buck,” Galbreath said. “You keep breeding until you get the [Boer] percentage up. I like my show goats about 90 percent.”

Galbreath has been part of the junior livestock show for more than 30 years. He’s been swine superintendent for 25 years. He used to raise show pigs. Had some beauties, too.

“Then the freeze of ’83 got me, along with losing all my help (children) to graduation,” he said. “I got out of the pig business. I had brush goats before I had Boer crosses. I evolutionized to this.”

Guard dogs save Namibian cheetahs 
 
The dogs grow up with the animals they guard
A scheme using dogs to protect sheep and goats from attack by wild animals in Namibia is proving so successful that it has been exported to Kenya.

With their livestock safe from attack, farmers no longer feel the need to hunt cheetahs and leopards.

"We have had amazing results," Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund told the BBC.

"Since the dogs were imported, the cheetah population had increased by a third," she said.

Anatolian Kangal dogs are extremely loyal and are ready to fight to the death.

The puppies are given to farmers when they are just eight weeks old.

  If the farmers are losing livestock they will track every predator down. But if there are no livestock loss then harmony is developed

Laurie Marker
They grow up with the flocks of goats and sheep they are to guard and bond with them.

If a predator approaches, the dogs bark loudly and the flock gathers round them.

This is enough to scare most attackers off, Ms Marker says.

The cheetah may go without a meal, but the result is that the farmers don't suffer losses and so they learn to live with the big cats, she says.

Instead of shooting leopard and cheetah or putting poison down to kill jackals, farmers will tolerate these predators.

The Conservation Trust began importing the Kangal from Turkey in 1994 and since then has provided around 300 dogs to farmers.

The dogs have a long history, having been bred specially to protect domestic animals.

Puppy

"Livestock loss has been reduced by over 80%," Ms Marker says.

 
Namibia's cheetah population has increased by a third.
"We have a huge waiting list and we are constantly trying to breed more dogs for the farmers."

Namibia now has around a quarter of the world's cheetah.

"Today we estimate the population at 3,000 - it is the world's most endangered big cat," says Ms Marker.

So successful has the programme been that it is being exported to Kenya's famous reserve, the Masai Mara.

The first puppy, Iseiya, has arrived safely.

The hope is that it will grow up with Kenya's goats and play the same role in protecting its flocks as they now do in Namibia.



 

MALAYSIAN DEMAND FOR GOATS CANNOT BE MET
The Australian lamb plants have been grateful for the demand for goat meat during the recent economic downturn, as the numbers going through the plants have avoided laying off staff, due to the shortage of sheep.

The goats are being flown fresh to Malaysia and the 10 to 14 kg carcass weight, goats have been making 110c/kg to 120c/kg, however Australia can only satisfy 60 pc of the demand.
Breeding stock for live shipping to Malaysia and the Philppines have been making 25 to 60 euros per head, delivered to the port of exit.

Malaysia intends to become self sufficient in goat meat by the year 2017.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the demand for goat meat has increased 250pc in the last 5 years.







 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
       
       
       
       
       
       
     

Going for the goat
By Jenny Slafkosky


for the Mercury News

Posted: 12/30/2008 05:00:00 PM PST


Click photo to enlarge
The goats at Star Creek Farm near Watsonville were originally acquired to clear... ( Linda Adams )«12»Related Stories
Goat meat — that's a harder sell in the American mainstream. Despite its popularity in a wide range of global cuisines, from Latin American to Southeast Asian to Middle Eastern, in the United States goat rarely shows up outside small, ethnic markets and restaurants.

But the American perception of goats as lovably quirky, tin-can-chewing dairy animals is beginning to change. Goat is gaining popularity in high-end restaurants across the Bay Area, including Palo Alto's Evvia Estiatorio, San Francisco's Aziza and Oakland's Oliveto. As the Bay Area's diverse food culture continues to grow and residents seek out locally produced food, goat is being brought to the forefront of culinary consciousness by farmers, chefs and home cooks.

"Goat is delicious," said Jim Wimborough, chef at Evvia and enthusiastic advocate of goat meat. "We're known for our lamb dishes here at Evvia, and I tell people I like the goat better. It's got a sweeter and, I think, a less gamy flavor than lamb."

At Evvia, which specializes in high-end Greek cuisine, Wimborough serves goat braised with pearl onions and artichokes or, his favorite way, roasted very simply on a rotisserie with olive oil, oregano and lemon juice.

Wimborough said goat outsells pork at his restaurant and credited Silicon Valley's diverse and adventurous eaters for the meat's popularity. While Evvia may be one of the few upscale restaurants in the area that serves goat,

it certainly isn't the only place in the Silicon Valley where goat has gained an audience.

At Birrieria Jalisco restaurant on San Jose's 13th Street, goat is featured so prominently that the establishment's sign sports a cheerful cartoon goat to beckon customers inside. Enedina Reyes has been cooking birria, a popular chile-spiked goat stew, at the restaurant for five years and has gained an enthusiastic following. The dish's rich, dark broth and tender meat are delicious with just a spoon, but birria aficionados wrap the succulent pieces of meat in house-made tortillas, garnish them with chopped onion, cilantro and lime, then dunk each bite into the bowl of flavorful broth.

Reyes said she uses the whole animal to make her birria, first steaming the meat "like tamales" for four to five hours over a low flame until it's extremely tender. While very young goat, or kid, can be cooked quickly with good results, low, slow cooking is the best bet for tender meat and maximum flavor development.

Sanjeeta Mishra, a Newark resident and avid home cook experienced with using goat in the kitchen, prefers a pressure cooker for the job.

"Goat meat takes time to cook, so we always pressure-cook it," she said. "It's easy to do and it will take less time. Goat requires elaborate preparation, so I plan ahead. We have to be careful when cooking this kind of meat because if you don't cook it well the smell can be strong, or the meat can be tough."

Mishra prefers fresh goat meat to frozen and likes to get her goat at Newark's Faisal Market, which sells goat, chicken, beef and lamb that is halal, adhering to Islamic dietary standards. While a variety of South Bay carnicerias, halal meat markets and Asian grocery stores sell goat meat, much of it is frozen and imported from Australia or New Zealand.

Faisal Market's owner Abdul Ghaffar Durrani says he also prefers fresh, local goat meat to the less expensive imported meat, but he sells both at his store. Durrani said he gets his fresh goat meat from Stockton-based Islamic Meat and Poultry Co., which buys from farms in and near the Bay Area.

At Evvia, Jim Wimborough's biggest frustration is trying to find enough high-quality, locally raised goat meat to feed his hungry clientele. His supplier, Napa Valley Lamb Co., can only provide so many goats, primarily because, Wimborough said, it's difficult to find a processing facility approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that wants to deal with goats. For many of them, it's not worth it to deal with the small amounts of livestock they get from goat farmers.

"I can get a cheaper lower-quality frozen goat from Australia, but it's not what we're trying to do," he said.

Linda Adams of Watsonville's Star Creek Ranch feels Wimborough's pain. A small producer of grass-fed lambs and goats, Adams struggled to find a USDA processing plant she felt good about that was also close enough to be economically feasible. The closest place she could find was Islamic Meat and Poultry, the distributor that supplies Faisal Market as well as a variety of restaurants across the Bay Area.

"I really want to sell it as locally as possible," Adams said of her meat. "I just think that's so important."

Star Creek Ranch didn't start raising goats for meat, but originally acquired them for a land improvement project. Ravenous, but picky, eaters, goats prefer diversity in their diet and can quickly clear an area of overgrown brush and invasive plants. Since the goats have lived at Star Creek, Adams said, there has been an increase in the growth of native perennial grasses and in the overall biological diversity of the land.

"Our whole intent of having animals was to improve the health of the land," she said. "Then we started realizing that the meat was really, really good and that people really enjoyed it, and now we have enough to share on a larger scale."

Beyond being pleasantly palatable, another major benefit Adams sees with her grass-fed goats and lambs is their nutritional value. According to the USDA, goat meat has 50 to 65 percent less fat than beef when the meats are prepared in a similar manner, and both have comparable protein content. Goats are ruminants, a class of mammals that can naturally digest a broad range of plants and grasses, and Adams believes their grazing habits may help improve their nutritional value to us.

"They get to eat a lot of perennial plants that have deep roots, so they get a lot of minerals that they wouldn't get if they were eating an annual crop like alfalfa that's cut all the time," she said.

Adams said that grass-fed goats also have a higher percentage of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids in their meat than grain-fed goats do. "I think that's one of the biggest arguments for grass-fed, besides that it's sustainable," she said.