Demand for goat dairy products rising by 25%
Consumer interest in healthy eating is driving demand for these products at 25% per annum.
This has resulted in processors being inundated with demands for goat’s milk, cheeses and yoghurts.
Breda Maher, Cooleeney Farmhouse Cheese, near Thurles, Co Tipperary, has two suppliers of goats milk. She added goats cheeses to her product range in recent years, and has won prestigious awards “The biggest problem we have is the supply of milk. We find it very difficult to meet the orders we have today. Developing markets with new customers is just not on because we can’t do it. The message I have is that we need a lot more goat’s milk,” she said.
There are some 200 farmers with a dairy goat enterprise in Ireland. They have herd sizes that range from 10 to 750.
Larger producers overcome the seasonality problem of milk production through light manipulation. (The goat’s breeding season is naturally initiated by decreasing daylight, but can be initiated out of season with artificial lighting, to simulate decreasing daylight.)
A number of Irish goat farmers are now producing high quality milk all year round. But home production of goat’s milk still falls far short of consumer demand. Meanwhile, an increasing number of doctors are known to prescribe goat’s milk for people who suffer from asthma. Ireland is believed to have the highest rate of asthma in Europe, and the fourth highest rate in the world. Some 470,000 people, including as many as 20% of children, have the condition.
A growing number of immigrants also have intolerance to the lactose in cows’ milk, and are consequently consuming goats’ milk.
At the National Dairy Goat Conference in Tullamore, Teagasc specialist John Twomey described the steps in establishing a dairy goat farming enterprise that can deliver a net profit margin of up to €4,900 per hectare.
He advised people starting out in dairy goat farming to establish a profitable outlet for the milk, whether it is required seasonally or all year round.
Only healthy goats from healthy herds of high generic merit should be purchased.
Goats are clean, friendly, inquisitive, active animals, fond of companionship and very responsive.
Enterprises have failed because of the poor quality and performance of the foundation herd. The aim should be to achieve 1,000 litres per goat per 300 day lactation.
Goats from different herds do not mix well, and the resulting stress can considerably reduce their potential milk yield.
It is advisable, according to Teagasc, to purchase kids ranging in age from five to nine months, rather than adult goats.
