Merit In Goat Farming Proposal

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31548, 9 December 1967, Page 10

Merit In Goat Farming Proposal

“There is merit in the proposal and the college would be prepared to look at this," the principal of Lincoln College, Dr M. M. Bums, said when he was asked to comment on a statement made earlier in the week by the Minister of Lands (Mr MacIntyre) about the possibility of investigations being made at Lincoln into farming of Angora goats for wool and meat production.

“We would, of course, need some financial assistance to do this,” said Dr Burns, who added that the college would be most happy to have discussions with the Minister about the project. A member of the college staff, Professor A. E. Render-

son, professor of wool science, said this week that he had informally suggested a few years ago that running of Angora goats might be worth .thinking about. At that time the problem, of sweet briar was very much alive and mohair was bringing almost twice as much as wool. While mohair prices fluctuated with fashion, Professor Henderson said that over a number of years, it had brought prices far in excess of wool.

From discussions 'he had had with a man who had been director of a South African wool research organisation and then general manager of the South African

Mohair Board, it seemed that Angora goats were not competitive with sheep but rather complementary with them. They mostly ate what sheep did not eat and did not eat much that sheep ate. This meant that on scrubby country where a sheep was running to four acres it would be possible to add a goat. There was little doubt that running of goats in New Zealand would be limited to a fairly restricted area. He understood that conditions needed to be hot and dry and Central Otago seemed to be an obvious place for initial investigation.

Professor Henderson said he also understood that the goats were “not particularly tough.” An obvious key issue would be the question of their control.