Feeding goats out in the pasture.
The CISCO forage customer in this article raises over 200 Boer goats on his family’s farm. They are located in northeast Indiana and have 102 acres in fenced forages. The soils range from muck to a clay loam.
They are grazing Boer goats year round on pastures or with hay fed on pasture. Their predominant pasture is oats, Chiefton Reed Canarygrass, Profit Orchardgrass, or WL 353LH alfalfa. This year they are also going to plant Sweet Summer BMR Pearl Millet following oats.
To help with parasite control in the goats, the rotation between grazings is 60 days instead of the normal 30 days that most cattle producers are accustomed to. To maintain forage quality, hay is taken in rotation with the grazings. In this manner, the forage quality is maintained and a winter feed source is also harvested.
They located the feeding areas and shelters on the poorer soils on their farm. This helps increase organic matter and fertility on the more depleted areas. A bale unroller is used to feed hay across the pasture. This allows the goats to feel like they are part of a herd, but not be too close to each to cause fighting.
On the operation, they are able to support about 700 lbs of animals per acre per year. This includes both hay and pasture. This is just another way that producers are using CISCO forages to increase profitability on their farms.
