Secrets of success of goat breeding

WHY GOATS?

The market of goat breeding is promising, - believe the experts of the conference. In Russia it has significant opportunities to develop, however, it is very important not to miss them and fill a niche segment.

In the world, according to "Streda Consulting" there is produced about 15 million tons of goat milk, in Russia - about 250 thousand tons. However, this figure is very approximate, in particular due to the small number of industrial farms. The goat breeding in Russia is mainly developed at the expense of the peasant farm holdings and smallholdings, but large businesses and the state are also ready to invest in the development of the industry.

- Goat farming is becoming available as never before. Statistics show the growing popularity of dairy goat breeding and the growth of livestock. There is a growing demand for cheese products. The state takes measures to support dairy goat breeding. It is worth remembering that the future of animal husbandry is for intelligent control systems. They give full information for making the right management decisions, - said the Vice-President of the company DeLaval Nikolai Tymoshenko.

Goat breeding is developing in countries with low incomes or in countries with a developed culture of consumption. A key product of the processing of goat milk is cheese. The absolute leader in this sector is France, which produces 100 thousand tons of goat cheese, while only 10% is exported. Traditions of consumption have Greece and Spain, the latter in its turn supplies a large amount of milk to France.

- Will Russia get closer to the world indicators? The question is how quickly and how can it be revealed? 250 thousand tons of milk is produced in Russia - the figure is very crafty, more than 90% is not marketable milk from smallholdings, commodity volume is 20-30 thousand tons. Sales channels are limited, they include "expensive" trade networks (VkusVilll, "Azbuka Vkusa"), farm shops, own retail and Internet-producers, - stressed Alexey Gruzdev, Head of "Streda Consulting".

According to Gruzdev, in Russia there are about 10 farms with a livestock of more than a thousand of goats. Most of them have their own processing. Goat milk has good prospects in the category of baby food, at the same time a major consumer of this segment – China – is pretty close.

- In Russia, the category of baby food is poorly developed, in particular in terms of international stringent requirements, as well as competitiveness with the world grandees. However, the market of China will be opened, now it will be actively worked on and producers should look in this direction, - Gruzdev told.

According to the expert, the key task of goat breeders is to increase the volume and representation on the shelf.

- The key task of producers in goat breeding is to increase volumes. In what? It is much more important to win the war for a place on the shelf and for the representation of products. Because at such fragmentation of products and independent efforts in promotion (every man for himself), in my opinion, now it is more important - to be engaged in representation, distribution, and with what - let producers decide taking into account their economy, - the analyst concluded.

The authorities of the regions of the Russian Federation actively support the goat breeding. This sector is popular today in the development of state support of family farms and programs of beginning farmers. Large farms also receive reimbursement of part of the costs.

The risk in this direction is the probability of lifting the sanctions and the higher cost of production of goat milk compared to cow milk. However, just recently, Vladimir Putin said that the chances of Western companies (competitors to domestic producers of goat milk and cheese) to return to the Russian market have decreased significantly. The market becomes more loyal to Russian products, and the competitiveness of goat breeders increases with the growth of the quality of the product and the introduction of modern technologies.

SUCCESS STORIES

Farmer Laure Fourjean, co-owner of the goat farm "Bio Du Chaten" spoke about the success story of an organic farm, focused on goat breeding.

- Cheese is an art, I am very proud of what I create - said Laure Fourjean.

The farm "Bio Du Chaten" started its work in 2012. Laure came to agriculture from the profession of a decorator and when she first started working in the country, she was referred to as to "urban crazy". Laure studied from scratch for a long time and received a diploma in animal husbandry, specializing in sheep and goats. In addition Ms. Fourjean has got a diploma of a dairy producer.

- We started with 102 young goats. Our goal was to create a large herd of goats, but we have moderated our ambitions a little bit. We have 160 Alpine goats, 20 Anglo-Nubian goats, 12 bucks and 50 young goats to increase the herd, - noted Laure Fourjean.

All genetics are now produced within the farm. Agriculture develops biological type of management, on the area of 101 hectares 25 hectares are used for growing alfalfa, 29 hectares – moorland and grassland, 15 hectares – for growing maize, 10 hectares – for soy, 9 hectares – for sunflower, 5.5 hectares – for clover. In addition, horse beans have been sown.

- Our goal is to graze animals on pastures and natural meadows. The taste of our milk is very good thanks to a variety of herbs. We do not feed our animals with concentrated feed. For me, artificial feed is a trouble for our goats. This year we were completely sufficient with own forages, told Fourjean. - In France, people do not care, many earn money on us. For two years we earn money ourselves, do not take loans, provide themselves with feed and semen. We became independent. We do not strive for the amount of milk, but for the quality, the return will be brought by  our cheeses, - said the expert.

The only thing that is still bought by the farm is milk replacer, essential for growing kids.

- We need it in the fight against arthritis-encephalitis of goats. We don't know how to fight it yet as we bought healthy animals, but anyway it appeared, - the expert noted.

According to Laure Fourjean, the cost of labor helps to reduce mechanization and installations for milking goats.

- We pay great attention to the quality of milking. We thoroughly clean the milking machines, monitor the quality of consumable parts. We treat the water, set fine filters, and filters of rigidity, which are important for our region, - said Ms. Fourjean.

Thierry Chevene the owner of the family farm, a hereditary farmer-goat breeder spoke about the traditions of farming and technologies for the production of cheese.

The farm "Chevene" started with a single goat 50 years ago.

- I was a problem child and once I told my parents - I want a kid. As a result, we now have 2,000 animals. We do our work in a traditional way; the area of the farm is about 250 hectares. Today, antibiotics and anti-parasitic drugs are not used on the farm, we use the technology of sustainable agriculture, we do not remove the horns of the animals, - told Thierry Chevene.

In the case of pathology at the farm "Chevene" a goat is culled, and the kid is used for meat, in general, the lambing is done in a natural way and this, according to the farmer, allowed to avoid arthritis-encephalitis of goats.

- All our goats were born at our farm, we use artificial insemination, and bucks belong to our farm. We rely on natural selection. Goats selected for lambing are aging animals (8-10 lactation periods). After the 6th lactation, the amount of milk is reduced, but these animals are most often used for lambing, - said Mr. Chevene.

The main breed of goats on the farm is Alpine. 1500 goats are milked; milking with a high degree of automation is carried out by two employees. Milk is processed on the farm and sold to other enterprises.

- Today we are a multi-functional enterprise. In addition to processing of our own milk, we buy part of the milk from other manufacturers, as well as cheeses from other manufacturers that we sell under our own brand, - said Thierry Chevene. Cheeses are collected from 18 farmers, after which the ripening process takes place in the facility built by the company. Among the partner farms there are farms with 30-50 goats, and with 300 - 500 goats. "Cheven" helps them with both genetics and veterinary issues.

Initially, products of "Chevene" are mostly sold to restaurants. It was the chefs of French gastronomy who helped the farmers to develop the taste of the product.

IN THE NATIVE HOMELAND

In Russia, the embargo has given a chance not only to industrial goat farms, but primarily to small private cheese factories. It was small peasant farm holdings that began active production of goat milk and goat cheeses.

Goat milk is more nutritious and useful; it is believed that it is especially useful for children. Today, China is actively investing in the construction of goat farms, including outside the country and in the processing of goat milk into infant formula.

During the conference "From a goat to cheese - it's easy" there spoke some Russian farmers, who proved by their own example that goat products have a niche in the country and should develop.

Maria Koval, the owner of the "Private dairy of Maria Koval" and Vladimir Borev, the owner of the goat farm and a private dairy BeauRêve spoke about their experience in the industry and why the market needs goat milk.

The dairy of Maria Koval is located in Pereslavl district of Yaroslavl region and processes 360 tons of milk per year. The production output is 25 tons of natural cheese per year. The cheese factory produces 5 types of cheese from goat milk, but is constantly experiencing a shortage of quality raw materials for this product. The rest of the range is more than 20 types of cheese from cow milk.

In addition, the dairy has its own herd - 100 sheep, 50 goats, 40 pigs. Pigs and sheep are fed with whey from dairy processing.

- Many people know how difficult it is to take care of goats, how difficult it is to find quality raw materials. But another challenge is sales. Each manufacturer is obliged to raise this issue regularly - from the moment to the organization of production and throughout the activity. According to our experience, active tasting helps a lot. The principle of word of mouth adds a large number, including at the start of production, - said Maria Koval. - Of course, social networks and those people who have learned to work professionally with social networks are prosperous people. Social networks provide wide opportunities to find your audience.

Creation of a gastrobar in Yaroslavl became the tool of promotion. It helps sales and it is an opportunity to develop. So far, according to Maria Koval, the gastrobar, which has become a popular place in the city, pays for itself and promotes products.

- We work with sommeliers, we prepare dishes from our cheeses, take on the task, which in theory is easier to solve by large manufacturers, - said Maria Koval. - The way from a goat to cheese is right and close. Goat cheese is a delicacy product. In the production of goat cheese a lot of milk is used.

Alena Dymchenko, the owner of the goat farm and entertainment center "Dikie belki (Wild squirrels)" notes that she cannot call herself a great expert in goat breeding, and emphasizes that they learn every day.

Despite this, today the farm "Alpijskie kozy (Alpine goats)" is a part of the educational agro-tourist complex "Dikie belki (Wild squirrels)" in Chekhov district of Moscow region. The complex itself consists of two parts - a park (an adventure park and a labyrinth park, each on an area of about two hectares) and a farm.

- For me, goat breeding is based on four "goats" - this is genetics, animals on which everything is based, equipment and human resources, - said Alena Dymchenko. – In my opinion, it is necessary to work on the farm with a family. You can find other professionals who are also "sick" with animals, but these are very few. The human factor solves a lot.

In Russia the main breed of large goat farms is Saanen breed. "Dikie belki (Wild squirrels)" initially made a choice in favor of this breed, but then changed for Alpine goats. These goats easily give milk and work better with modern equipment, said Alena Dymchenko.

According to Vladimir Borev, his goat farm and cheese factory have three important "no" in the basis of farming -"no" to loans, "no" to investments and "no" to subsidies.

- This is the main principle of our development. We are not even micro, we are nano-producers and we want to keep this small. We want to preserve our dignity and our self-sufficiency. We do not want to develop in accordance with the method of explosion, receiving huge loans. It is worth remembering that small French farms are a unique experience and such farms support life in the village, - Borev noted.

The farmer told that their cheese factory developed cheeses by the name of the village in which the production is located - "Maslovka". Today it is a very popular and effective way of promotion, using attributes of regional, craft character.

- We present cheese not only as a product, but as a kind of cultural phenomenon. Yes, centuries - old French traditions are the basis, but these traditions need to be shared, - said Vladimir Borev.

AS A WHOLE

Success is achieved by automation, reducing the human factor, competent feeding, veterinary support and culling.

Traditional feeding is very important for goats. Many farmers, both in Russia and abroad believe that the maximum naturalness of feeding, grazing on a pasture, high quality hay are the keys to delicious milk.

Jerome Despres, veterinarian of the French company Bocavet, who spoke at the conference, stressed the need for an integrated approach.

- French breeders are of the opinion that prevention is better than treatment. In this regard, our services are in great demand. They help to reduce the loss of livestock, culling, to prevent diseases, reduce the cost of production, which significantly affects the success of livestock farming, - said Mr. Despres.

The audit process identifies a set of risk factors. These are animals, genetics, forages, buildings, environment, rearing of youngstock, sanitary and hygienic standards. Despres stressed that all the farms are very different. In every team there are optimists (saying that everything is good) and pessimists (saying that everything is bad), veterinarians communicate with staff and this helps to identify weaknesses.

The key to effective goat farming is freedom from diseases, competent management and proper diet, believe the experts of the conference "From a goat to cheese - it's easy". As the experience of its participants shows, coupled with passion for their work, this is the way to success.

Read full article in Russian on © DairyNews.ru