armer ancher Serving the producers of Northwest Saskatchewan Thursday, April 27, 2017
North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Goats more fun than cattle, says local “rancher” By Helena Long
Freelance Reporter
UNITY – When Mathieu Kiefer had the opportunity to buy his parents’ farm and move back to the Unity area some six years ago, he knew what he was going to do as his contribution to the agriculture industry in Saskatchewan – raise goats. Today, Kiefer has more than 100 goats in the home pastures and outbuildings. With 70 breeding females, Kiefer raises the goats for meat and sells them at auction in Tofield, Alta., when they are about eight months old. Goats were selling for between $235 and $315 per cwt. (hundredweight) at the Feb. 27 sale in Tofield. The goats’ birthrate is 2.2 kids per nannie and the weaning rate is 1.8 kids. Typically most people who raise goats for meat breed them so the babies are born in January and February and will be ready for market in the fall. Usually Kiefer has done things a little differently, having the goats kid out in May and not selling them until January. This year, he thought he’d try the earlier kidding but, he said, “Never again.” Normally Kiefer doesn’t have to get too involved in the birthing process but the cold weather created a lot more work, and worry. It was a challenge to predict which nannies were ready to give birth so he could bring them into the limited, heated space in the Quonset. The cold snaps in January and February this year didn’t help either. Over the next year, he won’t put the bucks back with the does until January or so, to ensure the
later, spring-time babies. Kiefer said goats have a five-month gestation period, and it is the shorter daylight hours that drive a female goat into heat. The primary breed in the bloodlines Kiefer raises is Boer. The Boer goat was developed specifically for meat production in South Africa in the early 1900s. Because raising goats is not anywhere near as common as raising cattle, sometimes it can be a challenge in Western Canada to find unrelated bucks for breeding. It doesn’t help that the U.S.-Canada border is closed to breeding stock. Along with the Boers, Kiefer also has a Spanish buck – the Spanish breed is common in Mexico and the southern United States – and a cashmere. Contrary to popular belief, cashmere wool comes from goats and not sheep. According to the Cashmere Goat Association website, “Cashmere is the goat’s soft, downy undercoat, grown to its maximum length by mid-winter and shed in early spring. Any goat can grow cashmere, but those we call ‘cashmere goats’ have been selectively bred to produce it in significant amounts.” Cashmere goats also are good meat goats, making Kiefer’s buck a good choice for varying the genetics in his meat herd. Kiefer’s parents, Conrad and Therese, raised cattle while Kiefer was growing up, but they also had a tourist farm. Visitors could come and spend a night or two at the farm, see different animals, perhaps ride a horse. Because of the tourists, they had a few sheep, pigs, chickens and other animals on the
farm along with the cows. When Kiefer was eight or 10, his father came home with a couple of goats. Kiefer liked them the best of all the farm animals. Kiefer compared goats to dogs, saying they all have their own personalities. The goats of his youth were fascinating and fun so, when the opportunity came to raise livestock, he chose goats. He said he never cared for cattle, and pigs would have been OK but goats are far more interesting. The market is good too; as the diversity of cultures in Canada increases, there are more and more families for whom goat meat is a familiar meal. Just like cattle ranchers, Kiefer “preg tests” his does each year. He keeps track of production and desirable and undesirable traits. For example, not all goats have to have their hooves trimmed, but some do. Those whose feet seem to grow excessively, necessitating more frequent handling, end up being shipped to market so the trait isn’t passed on. For when the goats need to be handled or treated, Kiefer has a goat-sized handling system, including squeeze chutes and a tip table, “identical,” he said to a cattle system, “but smaller.” The goats on Kiefer’s farm, even if most of the kids are ultimately destined for the slaughterhouse, live a happy life. They rarely have to be manhandled. In the summer months, they have acres and acres of grass and brush to roam. Even during the winter, they always have access to a large outdoor yard as well as a comfortable shelter with plenty of straw for
Mathieu Kiefer and his family enjoy the interaction with members of their goat herd. Photos by Helena Long
bedding. They eat as much hay as they want, when they want. Kiefer, his wife Tina and their four children are happy, too. They enjoy watching the goats interact with them and each other, and have named a few favourites, that are likely to stick around. As well as raising goats, Kiefer works full-time with a local grain farmer. 2016 editi on
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