Will this be your Year of the Goat?

The Chinese say goats are calm and possess perseverance.

According to Chinese astrology, starting from the Chinese New Year, traditionally February 19, 2015 can be thought of as The Year of the Goat. This Chinese Zodiac assigns various attributes to the 12 animals that appear in the Chinese calendar.

In the case of goats, the character traits include calmness, gentleness, being thoughtful, honesty and perseverance.

While for most farmers these attributes may not be the ones that immediately come to mind when dealing with goats; some of them, particularly perseverance, are certainly relevant to many goat farmers.

When thinking about the recent and current pastoral farming landscape in New Zealand, goat farming has not been, and is not, strongly represented.

In short, despite the many advantages that goat farming can offer commercial farming operations in New Zealand, the industry in general has failed to prosper as well as its admirers might wish.

This is not to say, of course, that the sector does not have its successes. In this regard the dairy goat industry is going from strength to strength and the price for mohair from angora goats continues to increase as demand outstrips supply. Demand for goat meat is growing domestically, with several meat-processing companies looking at how the export market for goat meat might be developed in future.

Nevertheless, and compared to other sectors such as the sheep/beef and dairy industries, the goat sector has a number of obstacles to overcome before it can be seen as a major contributor to the international success of New Zealand's pastoral sector.

Goats provide a number of advantages for commercial farms as well as lifestyle-block owners. While they do present some challenges, as farming any animal species does, they can be farmed for dairy, meat and fibre and are particularly valuable as a means of controlling weeds.

Overall, goats present another option for farmers who wish to consider diversifying and are willing to consider the strong value proposition that farming them provides.

The goat sector has some strong advocates, including Federated Farmers' Goats Industry Group. This industry group is one of seven that make up the federation, and has an executive comprised of representatives from Mohair New Zealand and Meat Goat New Zealand, with a close association to the New Zealand Boer Goat Breeders Association.

As with any opportunity, it is important that the focus is maintained on proceeding in a sustainable way and not too rapidly.

A slower and more managed expansion process ensures that the sector best provides value to everyone concerned, from farmers to processors, and most importantly the consumers. They are the ones who will be the ultimate arbiter of the success or otherwise of the sector's endeavours. Stakeholders may become frustrated with the slow rate of change, but if we want to be a sustainably profitable industry we need to learn from our past.

Goat farmers must use the goat trait and remain calm and know that perseverance is a necessary virtue for success in farming goats. We look forward to what the Year of the Goat will bring.

Dawn Sangster is Federated Farmers Goats chairwoman