Dairy goats ? feeding and milk marketing

Feeding dairy goats, including use of concentrates, marketing goat milk and other goat milk products, and the benefits of goat milk.

Dairy goats - feeding and milk marketingCue: For many of us, the idea of drinking goat?s milk may sound very strange. But while goats do not produce as much milk as cows, some breeds of goats have been specially developed for dairying, and can produce up to 5 litres of milk per day. And goat?s milk is also extremely healthy. Fat particles in the milk are much smaller than those in cow milk, which means that goat?s milk can be very easily digested. It?s also proven to be good for those who are allergic to cow?s milk, or who suffer from the skin condition eczema. In some parts of Africa, hospitals and clinics are ready to pay a high price for goat?s milk because of the nutritional benefits it has for their patients.As more people learn about the advantages of goat?s milk, so the market for it is growing. In South Africa, Philip van de Merwe keeps dairy goats on his farm near Coligny, in North West Province. He keeps Saanen goats, a dairy breed originally from southern Europe but now found in South and West Africa. Lucas Moloi went to find out about how he markets his goat milk, and how he manages to feed his goats throughout the year, in order to maintain their milk production. But he began by asking how much milk each goat was able to produce each day.IN:?In terms of daily production ??OUT:??So we will get there.?DUR?N4?07?BACK ANNOUNCEMENT: Philip van de Merwe, on the growing popularity of goat milk products in South Africa. The interview comes from a radio resource pack produced by CTA.TranscriptMerweIn terms of daily production, some people say you get 5-6 litres per day per goat, but we are conservative and we work on 2.5-3 litres per day.MoloiAnd how do you sustain their feeding through different seasons of the year?MerweThe basic feeding that they get is lucerne, and whether they are small or big, old or young, they get lucerne. We just feed the bales to them, and when we milk them we give them some other ration for milk production.MoloiSo what are the problems that you encounter when feeding the goats?MerweThe only problem is the concentrates that we give them during milking. The problem is, I don?t think there is anybody who can really tell you what the ration must be, so it is a trial and error basis and we have used about 6 or 7 different rations during the year, just to try out and see which one is the best.MoloiI will say that the market for goat products in South Africa is so small so how do you sustain your business?MerweWe started with the clinics and make people aware of the product, because the difference between goat milk and cow milk is the molecules are very fine, very fine, so you literally taste more milk when you taste these fine products. The fat content of goat milk is lower than cow milk, and allergic people cannot use cow milk but they definitely can use goat milk.MoloiSo do you only market your milk and cheese in South Africa, or do you go to the extent of marketing it in other African countries, and maybe internationally?MerweNo, we are still in the beginning stage. We are small, we are growing, and hopefully my idea is at the later stage to make milk powder. We also have the fine cheeses, halumi, feta and gouda that we produce, very tasty, healthy, and the market is just growing. But it?s hard work, it?s not that you just take it there and they sell it, you have to market it. But it is growing.MoloiSo in marketing your products, what are the problems that you encounter?MerweNobody knows about goat milk products. If they hear about drinking goat milk, they don?t like the idea. They also don?t like the idea of eating goat milk cheese. But the people who are health conscious, they just go for it. Most of the health conscious people are in Pretoria and Jo?burg, so you have to market there. The other people, they just look at the price ? goat milk is not cheap ? and they look at the price and they just prefer to buy cow milk.MoloiSo what strategy do you use to make them buy goat products?MerweWell we have promotions where we give them samples to eat and try out, because if they taste it, they buy it. So you just have to market and go forward for it. You cannot just put them on the market, on the shelves, and think that they will buy it, you have to make them aware of it.MoloiWhat has been the response from the consumers?MerweExcellent, excellent. They phone me on a daily basis just to make sure that we don?t stop delivery to the department stores, and they are very satisfied with it, and they just want us to make other products like yoghurt. Everybody is asking about yoghurt; but I feel that it is better to sort out the one product and get to the other one, and go like that. It is better than just making a lot of products and you don?t have control over it. So we will get there. End of track.