Friday 7 December 2012

Goat Study Tour 2012

At the end of August I travelled to the UK along with almost 30 members of the Irish Goat Producers Association for a two-day goat study tour.  It really was a superb couple of days with visits to five elite producers of milk, meat and breeding stock.  Not only was it an excellent learning experience but it gave those involved in the Irish goat industry a rare opportunity to meet socially and discuss all aspects of goat production.  I also must say thanks to Bernie Whyte of the IGPA and Christine Ball of Goat Genetics for all their work in organising the trip.  I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and really look forward to doing it again in the near future.  You can read my full report here.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Broughgammon Farm

Last week I had the pleasure of travelling with a colleague to Ballycastle in County Antrim to meet Charlie Cole of Broughgammon Farm. Along with farming sheep and harvesting seaweed, Charlie has recently taken to rearing male dairy goat kids that would usually be put down at birth.  Indeed, Charlie's new enterprise featured on BBC's 'The Farm Fixer' in September.  Having spent a few hours in his company I really had to admire his determination and conviction in the potential of his new enterprise.  There are already some very promising signs for Charlie and I look forward to seeing his business go from strength to strength. To find out more about Broughgammon Farm you can check out their website.

Friday 19 October 2012

Irish Goat Meat

For any of you that missed the article on goat meat on RTE's Ear to the Ground, Ella McSweeney has made a short audio sample available on Audioboo.  You can listed to it here. The article featured Claudia Marl who is rearing some of her goats for meat. She has also recently started making a delicious goats' milk ice cream which I was lucky enough to sample at this year's Electric Picnic. You can get all the products made by Claudia through her website Barba Goat Farm.

Wednesday 26 September 2012

US National Goat Expo

The National Goat Expo takes place from October 7th-11th next in Des Moines, Iowa.  It will be a huge event over five days with clinics, seminars, shows and workshops covering every aspect of goat keeping and farming.  It highlights the extent to which the goat industry may be developed in any particular country. and aspects of goat production never even considered in Ireland. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend, but you can read all about it here.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

The Irish Goat Hub

In my time working with goats in Ireland I've discovered many passionate and hardworking individuals who are committed to their craft, often with little support or publicity.  There is also no overall association who work to advertise and develop the overall goat industry from the animals being looked after on farms to the finished product of milk, meat, cheese and cosmetics sold in shops and markets. To this end I've created a 'Goat Hub' where I intend to list any websites or links relating to people working in the goat industry in Ireland.  It will be a place where anyone can visit and discover some of the great work done and products created by these individuals in this country.  The Hub is available on the bottom right hand side of this page or you can check it out here.

Monday 13 August 2012

2012 - United Nations Year of Cooperatives

Did you know that this year is the United Nations Year of Cooperatives? In light of this fact a conference is being held in Macreddin Village in Wicklow on Friday, August 31st next.  A number of important national organisations are jointly involved, including Teagasc.  The focus of the conference is on the practical needs of farmers in bringing food products directly to consumers.

Since the goat industry in this country is relatively small, it is very important that we all work together to promote and develop the sector.  Cooperatives may well play an important part in achieving this. Outlets for goat products, be they dairy or meat, are not widely available and it is hugely important to be proactive in creating new outlets and markets. Whether you wish to sell goats' milk, cheese, ice cream or develop a meat product this conference will provide lots of useful practical information regarding the creation and development of a successful cooperative. Among those taking part are members of well established and highly regarded cooperatives already in operations such as Ring of Kerry Quality Lamb and Burren Beef and Lamb. 

For more information you can download the conference programme here.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Irish Goat Producers Association

If you're interesting in breeding or showing goats in Ireland, be sure to check out the Irish Goat Producers Association Facebook page. Bernie will keep you up to date with all of the latest news from the shows and there are some great pictures up on the page. Most of the members are very experienced goatkeepers and their knowledge could be invaluable if you're new to goats. You can check out the page here.

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Cream of Irish Goats Cheese Rises to the Top!

Congratulations are in order to Yeats Country Food and once again to Michael Finegan for awards recently picked up at the International Cheese Awards in Nantwich, UK. A deluge of of prizes were awarded to Irish cheese producers and among them Yeats Country Spreadable Goats' Cheese and Michael's Boyne Valley Blue. A testament to the quality of goats' milk produced in this country and the dedicated cheese makers turning it into a delicious end product.

Did you notice anything wrong with my headline? If you leave fresh cows' milk overnight you will find that the cream separates and rises from the milk below.  This is due to a compound called aggultinin.  However most cows milk undergoes a process called 'homogenisation' which prevents this separation taking place.  Goats' milk does not contain agglutinin and is therefore naturally homogenised.  This is just one of the claimed health benefits of drinking goats' milk. You can read more about these benefits here.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Mother goats ‘know kids’ voice’ after a year apart

I recently read an article regarding a study that found that mother goats can recognise their own kids calls after being separated for 12-18 months.  It perhaps highlights our lack of knowledge of the 'cognitive capacities' of goat as opposed to other domestic species and the need for more goat-specific welfare legislation in this country.   You can read the full article here.

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Welcome!

You're very welcome to the new Teagasc Goat Blog. My name is Cian Condon and I'm the National Goat Adviser with Teagasc. I hope to keep you up to date with all matters goat related here in Ireland and beyond.

Here I am pictured with Michael Finegan outside Navan in County Meath. When beginning his goat milking enterprise, Michael understood that prices would be volatile and always planned to create a new product.  His Boyne Valley Blue has been a great success and will be widely available in Tesco from mid July. You can read the full Today's Farm article here. You can also read more on Michael's cheese on his Facebook page here.