Thursday 2 October 2014

Busy Times for Bluebell Falls


While working at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska last week I came across a very busy Bluebell Falls stand.  I had a great chat with owner Victor O'Sullivan about goat farming (of course!), their range of goats cheese and very attractive new packaging.  These cheeses have already won many awards including gold for their Goats Cheese with Garlic, Honey & Thyme at the Irish Cheese Awards at Bloom
 
Bluebell Falls is a family run business owned by Victor and his wife Breda near Charleville in Cork.  As you might imagine these award winning cheeses are very popular in restaurants and hotels locally, however their quality has been noticed much farther afield and can be found in such upmarket hostelries as Darwins, O'Connells, The Dylan and Merrion Hotels in Dublin and the likes of Kai and The G Hotel in Galway.  They have also signed up for Origin Green, which is a national food sustainability programme operated by Bord Bia, showing their commitment to producing quality food in an environmentally friendly way.  
 
This is a shining example of how goats milk can produce a high quality, sustainable and perhaps most importantly for Victor and his family, much sought-after product.  I wish them every success and encourage you to try it - you won't be disappointed!
 

Friday 15 August 2014

National Goat Expo Report - Part 3


As part of the Expo there were a number of demonstrations and clinics being carried out each day. FAMACHA (FAffa MAlan CHArt) is a diagnostic tool to help farmers diagnose parasite infection in small ruminants. The tool is a chart that matches eyelid colour to anemia levels, an indicator of parasite infection. Dr. Steve Hart of +Langston University provided training and certification on this as part of the seminar series. Dr. Donald Bliss of Mid America Ag Research, in conjunction with his seminar on parasites, provided a faecal clinic with faecal counts being done on goats present at the show.

One of the seminars I wasn’t able to attend was regarding LGD’s. At first I had no idea what LGD’s were but I discovered they were Livestock Guardian Dogs. These dogs protect the goats from predators and are basically full members of the herd. They are introduced to the goats at just a few weeks of age so that the ‘imprint’ on the animals and the urge to protect is therefore instinctive. Despite their size they tend to be gentle and are often protective of children.
 
On the final morning Crede Garriott gave two comprehensive ‘Boer Fitting Clinics’ on how to prepare your goats for the show ring. Over the course of the demonstration he outlined the many points to consider during preparation for a show, what judges will be looking for and demonstrated no end of skill in his work.
There were a number of commercial stands present at the Expo. Some were specifically aimed at goat farmers with a wide array of products for practical use. Others were laden with many different products demonstrating the versatility of goats for any size holding.

The full report contains many more details and photos and is available on the Publications section of the Teagasc Goat Page.

Tuesday 17 June 2014

National Goat Expo Report - Part 2


 

There was a large variety of goat breeds present at the Expo. Some of the breeds are well known here in Ireland such as Saanen, Toggenburg, Alpine and Anglo-Nubian. However others either don’t exist at all in Ireland or are present in only small numbers. Each of the individual breeds had a number of competitions for different classes and ages of animal. There was also a large number of other competitions including dairy (see photo below), meat, fibre, miniature and myotonic. It was also lovely to watch the ‘Pee Wee Showman’ competitions, where even very young children are encouraged to show their animals.

Dairy Breeds

Dairy goats are by far the most common type of goat in Ireland. However some of the breeds at the Expo were much less familiar than the few we know so well.   La Mancha are a very distinctive dairy breed, easily recognized by their very short ears – ‘elf ears’. They are known for high yield and milk butterfat content. Oberhasli are a form of Alpine goat, originally from Switzerland. They are known for their distinctive colouring and excellent temperament, along with high milk production. The Nigerian Dwarf  is a miniature goat breed with West African ancestry. Although short in stature it gives a surprisingly high yield of milk. The milk is also extremely high in butterfat (as much as 10%) and is therefore ideally suited to cheese and soap production.
 
Meat Goats
 
In recent years we have become much more accustomed to seeing Boer goats in Ireland.  Their powerful build and dsitinctive marking is easily recognisable. It is originally from South Africa, has a fast growth rate and excellent carcass qualities. This breed had the highest numbers shown at the Expo. The Myotonic goat  or 'Fainting Goat is so called because when panicked the legs of this goat freeze for about 10 seconds, often causing it to fall over. It’s rarity means it can be quite valuable but they were originally bred for meat production.

Other breeds
 
The Pygmy goat is originally from West Africa, this hardy breed is typically kept as a pet but can be used for milk production. The Miniature Silky is bred for the quality of the coat and its miniature size. It was originally bred from the Tennessee Fainting Goat but other goat breeds have been added such as the Nigerian. The Cashmere is instantly recognisable by their name and any goat that produces cashmere wool is referred to as a cashmere goat. Breed standards vary regionally even in the United States.
The full report contains many more details and photos and is available on the Publications section of the Teagasc Goat Page.

Friday 13 June 2014

Steps to Silage Making - Part 2

The second part of Steps to Silage Making concentrates on how to harvest and save your grass in order to produce the highest quality silage.  The first job is to monitor the growth of your grass and aim to cut it just as seed heads begin to appear.  Remember that yield increases with time, while your DMD (dry matter digestibility) decreases. 

Silage is basically pickled grass.  In order to produce the acid to pickle the grass we need sugars. Ideally we want a high level of sugars in the grass (>3%) in order to get high preservation.  Alternatively we can concentrate sugar levels in the grass through wilting to reduce the water content. Tedding (spreading) the grass can substantially increase the drying process. Not cutting in the morning (i.e. when dew is on the grass) will also reduce water content.  Sugars are highest on bright sunny days with cool nights. 

Once filling the pit has begun it should be completed as rapidly as possible.  During this stage of the harvest the most important thing is to expel as much air as possible from the silage.  The grass should be rolled after every load is added to the pit.  It should then be covered with two layers of plastic to ensure all air is excluded.  Once the silage has settled it may be necessary to adjust the plastic to maintain a tight seal. The pit should also be inspected regularly and any damaged areas should be patched.
 
If harvesting conditions are poor it is even more important to follow the steps above.  You may need to adjust cutting heights to reduce soil contamination. Soil compaction is a big issue and this may also need to be addressed through using lighter machinery, reducing tyre pressures and only half-filling trailers.  As effluent production can be much greater, proper drainage and collection facilities are vital.
 
For second cut silage apply up to 100kgs/Ha (80 units/acre) of Nitrogen and Potassium and 16kgs/Ha of Phosphorus (13 units/acre).  If you have soil samples ensure that recommendations are adhered to.  Applying slurry on the bare stubble immediately after cutting will provide much needed nutrients at a low cost.

Thursday 5 June 2014

RTE Television and Lidl announce The Taste of Success

A new RTÉ One series, The Taste of Success, will see members of the public and local producers compete to get their unique food product on the shelves of Lidl Ireland’s 140 supermarkets.  The top prize is worth in excess of €100,000 including €50,000 cash and €25,000 in product development and marketing support. 
 
As part of the process producers will be tested and have their products refined by Lidl Brand Ambassador Paul Flynn along with Lidl Ireland and a host of food industry experts. It's a unique opportunity to get your product developed and marketed in Lidl stores nationwide.  The closing date is next Wednesday 11th June so get your entries in.  You can get more information from the RTE website and download an application form here.
 
 
 

Friday 30 May 2014

National Goat Expo Report - Part 1



This is the first part of my report on the 2013 National Goat Expo which took place in Bloomington, Illinois, USA last September.  This first part will cover the seminars I attended over the few days; part two will cover the shows and breeds and the final part will cover the other demonstrations and any other items of interest.  The whole report will be available for download next week from the Teagasc Goat Page.
 
Part 1 - Seminars

+Deborah Niemann is a homesteader, writer and self-sufficiency expert who has been raising livestock and making goats’ cheese for over 10 years. She conducted 3 seminars on the first day based on her experience and expertise. These primarily focussed on the range of value-added products that can be made from dairy goats. Deborah outlined the basics of making cheese from goats’ milk and the equipment required. She also detailed the equipment, process and ingredients for soap making. Goats’ milk and caprillic acid are extremely good for your skin and are used in the treatment of skin conditions such as eczema. Many things can be added to goats’ milk soap and Deborah described many of these and their uses. These include essential oils, herbs, clays and oatmeal. Finally, Deborah covered the production of meat, the tanning of hides and production of leather goods. There was also reference made to the whey left over from cheese production and its use as a feed for pigs and as a fertiliser.

 
Dr. Steve Hart has spent over 20 years in the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research located at +Langston University in Oklahoma. He made a number of presentations over the three days of seminars; the first of which was a basic introduction to goats dubbed ‘Goats 101’. This was an excellent introduction to goat farming and covered all important aspects to be considered when beginning a goat enterprise.  He also covered topics such as parasites; nutrition and minerals; nutrition for high-yielding dairy does and pasture management and grazing. 


Dr. Frank Pinkerton retired in 1993 after a 40-year university career, the last 15 of which focussed on goats for milk, meat and fibre. He still works as a private consultant in goat management and marketing and writes articles for Goat Rancher magazine. He also presented a number of seminars over the 3 days, primarily based on meat goats such as was Management Influences Affecting Net Farm Income and Meat Goat Producer Problems and Constraints.
Dr. Donald Bliss is the owner and operator of Mid America Ag Research, an agricultural and research management consultant company. They specialise in drug development and applied research with primary emphasis on parasitology investigations. Dr. Bliss gave an excellent presentation on parasites in goats, how they pick up parasites and how treatments might differ from other farm animals. He also discussed parasite life cycles, control programmes and strategic deworming programmes.

Leslie Cooperband of Prairie Fruits Farm gave two presentations on setting up a farmstead creamery and cheese making. She gave a detailed seminar on her own experience in setting up a dairy and cheese production unit, from 4 goats up to their present number in excess of 70. They currently make 8 different cheeses on the farm and Leslie went through the process of making some of these. She was also kind enough to bring some of the cheeses with her for a tasting at the end of the seminars.

The final speaker at the Expo was Dr +Noah Litherland of the +University of Minnesota. He gave two very detailed seminars, the first of which was on Successful Kid Rearing Practices. This was an excellent presentation with a huge amount of information covering the different phases of rearing up to weaning, the importance of colostrum and feeding. The final seminar was again very detailed and was on Managing Nutrition of Does during Late Pregnancy and Early Lactation. Dr. Litherland covered topics such as effects of prepartum feeding on postpartum performance, ketosis, rumen health, milk fever and uterine health.

Monday 19 May 2014

Sheridan's 5th Annual Irish Food Festival

Next Sunday 25th of May sees the now annual Sheridan’s Irish Food Festival taking place at their headquarters in Co. Meath. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet many of Ireland's top artisan food producers and sample the remarkable range of food they have created. From sausages to spices and chocolate to cheese, a massive array of Irish produce will be on show including some of our best goats’ cheeses such as Boyne Valley Blue, Cooleeney, Corleggy and Killeen. 

If that wasn’t enough there will be a range of workshops taking place, hosted by some of Ireland’s best known food producers and chefs such as Richard Corrigan and Ross Lewis.  RTE’s Ella McSweeney will also be hosting our National Brown Bread Competition.

It’s going to be a great day so if you love Irish food be sure to drop by and give yourself a treat.  I hope to see you there!


Thursday 10 April 2014

Discover Farmhouse Cheese Farm Visits

This month sees the beginning of the Discover Farmhouse cheese farm visits for 2014.  This is a unique opportunity to experience cheese making first-hand and discover the day to day operation of a cheese producing dairy farm. 

There is huge diversity between the host farms in both scale and type of production and they include the homes of many of our most well known and loved goats cheeses including St Tola, Killeen and Cooleeney.
 
Don't miss your chance to experience some of Ireland's best cheese producing farms.  The visits continue for the next two months and are free to attend.  Click here to get further details and book your place.



Friday 4 April 2014

Steps to Silage Making - Part 1

Silage is the key winter feed in this part of the world and on many goat farms, provides the chief form of forage all year round.  Putting the correct steps in place at this time of year will provide sufficient quantities of high quality silage for your goats.  High quality silage also plays a key role in reducing feed costs as less concentrates are required.  It has been shown that silage quality has significant effects on feed intake, milk yield, milk quality and body condition score in goats. 
 
Step 1. Have a plan
 
Farmers that consistently make good quality silage always have a plan in place.  This requires short term planning (e.g. spring management and fertiliser application) and long term planning (e.g. sward quality, soil fertility) to maximise yield  and quantity of silage.
 
Step 2.  Check soil fertility
 
Studies have shown that soil P & K concentrations as well as pH (lime requirement) have been depleted in recent years. This is reflected in sub-optimal grass growth and consequently light yields at target harvest dates. 
 
Step 3. Establish targets for silage quality

This will vary depending on the type of animal being fed with low productivity animals needing poorer quality silage than high performance animals.  Therefore a suckled meat goat herd kidding in Spring will require lower quality silage (65 DMD) than high yielding lactating goats (75DMD). 
 
Step 4. Graze out the silage fields.

Graze silage swards short in late Autumn, or graze them in Spring to avoid a build-up of a low digestibility butt.   The dead butt has a digestibility of just 40-50% which will have a negative effect on silage DMD. Typically dairy goat herds are not grazed outdoors therefore try to take a cut of grass off your silage area before applying fertiliser for silage.

Step 5. Spread Fertiliser

1. Apply total nitrogen (N) at from 115-150 kg/ha or (92-120 units/acre) for old and reseeded pastures, respectively. This can be done from the combined input of bagged fertiliser (e.g. CAN, urea, etc.) and slurry.   However, most goat farms will not have access to slurry and therefore must concentrate on using bagged fertiliser.

2. Apply fertiliser evenly and as early as feasible

3. Slurry (where available) should only be spread on bare stubble or very short grass

4. There is little real advantage to the silage sward from splitting the application of N fertiliser.

Friday 14 February 2014

Colostrum - Liquid Gold

Colostrum is the first milk produced by the doe after birth. It is much thicker than subsequent milking with a yellowish colour.  It tends to be much higher in protein, vitamins and minerals than regular milk and provides an extremely high nutrient diet to the newborn kid.  But it’s the immunoglobulins that are the most important component of colostrum.  At birth, kids have virtually no immunity to pathogens present in its new environment.  However, the immunoglobulins present in high quality colostrum can provide passive immunity.  The doe produces immunoglobulins to protect itself from any diseases it has been exposed to.  Therefore if the doe is moved to the nursery area a number of weeks before kidding, it should develop immunoglobulins against any pathogens in the area and pass these to the newborn kid in the colostrum.  This also means that kids should only be fed colostrum sourced on their own farm.  This will prevent possible transmission of infection (CAE, Johnes) from other farms.  In order to maximise immunity the doe should also be vaccinated against clostridial diseases approximately four weeks before kidding.
There are three keys to feeding colostrum:
1.                   Feed colostrum as soon as possible after birth.
At birth the intestine of the kid is not mature and can absorb the large immunoglobulin proteins, but this capability diminishes rapidly (gut closure) and is virtually gone after 24 hours. In addition, the kid begins to produce digestive enzymes shortly after birth which can break down the immunoglobulins and destroying their ability to prevent disease.  However due to its very high nutritional value, there may still be some benefit in feeding colostrum for a number of days where available.
2.                   Feed approximately 1 litre
Most literature proposes that a kid should receive 10% of its bodyweight in colostrum in the first 24 hours.  However the more colostrum a kid receives, the more antibodies and high energy nutrition it also receives.  Therefore work to the rule of feeding the kid about 50mls of colostrum per kg of bodyweight every 4 hours.  For a 4kg kid this is 200ml every 4 hours and will provide at least 1 litre in the first 24 hours after birth.
3.                   Feed high quality colostrum
The concentration of immunoglobulins in the colostrum diminishes rapidly after birth, therefore the sooner it is harvested from the doe, the better.  In addition, the udder begins to ‘bag up’ with milk after birth and this dilutes the effect of the colostrum. 
If you are lucky enough to have colostrum that is surplus to your requirements, then it may be stored for future use.  It should be refrigerated immediately and stored for up to two days.  Alternatively it can be frozen for up to a year.  Place in small quantities in ice cube trays and move to zip lock bags once frozen.  Larger quantities can again be stored in zip lock bags, but remember to allow space for expansion and it is always a good idea to double bag in case the first punctures.  It should be thawed gently in a warm water bath in order to protect the immunoglobulins – if the water is too hot to put your hand into, it’s too hot for the colostrum.
If there is simply no goat colostrum available then there may be no alternative but to feed cow colostrum.  Ideally this should be sourced on the same farm, but this may not be possible. Therefore obtain it from healthy, disease free animals to prevent importing diseases, particularly Johnes Disease.  It would also be hugely beneficial if the cows were vaccinated against clostridial diseases.

Friday 7 February 2014

Aran Island Goats' Cheese Up and Running!

I'm delighted to see Cáis Gabhair Arann is well and truly up and running.  I first spoke to Gabriel Faherty a few years back and was really impressed with his ideas and determination in getting his business off the ground.  Starting a farm-to-fork food business is a huge challenge anywhere, but must have had particular logistical issues when located on an island.  However, this idea is particularly well thought out in that it uses all of the assets available - Gabriel produces milk from his own herd of goats, makes cheeses that are clearly identifiable as being produced on the Aran Islands and perhaps most notably a visitor centre which should add a very substantial additional element to the business, particularly during the summer months.  There are some lovely pictures on the Aran Islands Hotel Facebook page which check out here.
 
The farm is featured on Bliain in Inis Mór on TG4 this coming Sunday 9th of February at 9.30pm so be sure to tune in.  You can also follow Gabriel on Twitter @AranGoatCheese.
 
I want to wish Gabriel, his family and staff every success and I look forward to visiting them in the near future. 

Friday 31 January 2014

High Hopes for 2014

May I take this opportunity to wish each one of you a Happy New Year.   I know it’s somewhat belated coming on the last day of January but I can confirm that the Goat Blog will be much busier this year, with a mix of news, information and more technical updates.

I really feel this is going to be a big year for the Irish Goat Industry, with much stronger communication and cooperation between farmers and processors, Teagasc, the Department of Agriculture and all the farming and food organisations.  Hopefully this will all get under way in the next few weeks with a meeting of some of the interested parties to get the ball rolling. I’ll keep you updated with any developments.

The report on my trip to the Goat Expo is also nearing completion and I’ll make it available here in the next few weeks.  It will include summaries of all the seminars I attended but I will also have more detailed information also available for each of them.  There will also be lots of photos of the competitions and all of the breeds that were on show.

Finally I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to each of you.  As a result of our work keeping the public updated via social media, myself and a number of my colleagues were offered a Staff Excellence Award.  No matter where you’re located - in Ireland or beyond – many, many thanks for all the hits on this page.  I will do my very best to develop and drive this Blog from strength to strength and I look forward to your contributions and experiences as part of this.

Cian