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National
Angora Trophy Show and Sale
2008 Preview
We are looking forward to running the NATS at Goulburn
Showgrounds and have booked the venue for the 29 February,
1st March and 2nd March 2008.
The NATS is more than a show. It is a weekend designed
around showcasing stud breeding excellence, benckmarking
yearly improvement, demonstrating mohair production
values, getting hands on with show animals, providing
a multi-vendor stud sale. It is a weekend where stud
breeders, commercial growers, and new industry entrants
can all get together and talk positively about angora
goats.
New Initiatives
There are some new initiatives for 2008 that will improve
the show format and strengthen the value of the results.
The mohair fleece section has been reviewed and fine
hair classes streamlined. We have split the 10kg commercial
kid class into two classes which are under 25.1 micron
and 25.1 – 27.0 micron. The results will be interesting
and will give us some good grower kid lines to assess.
We have reviewed the appraisal class and have decided
to replace it with the Mohair Production Championship
to highlight the mohair value produced by Angora goats
as kids and hoggets which are important age groups for
herd profitability. The class will made up of teams
that include 2 kids and 2 hoggets does or wethers. There
will be no meat value score in 2008. We plan to have
the class judged in the main shed and give more focus
to the championships throughout the Saturday show. We
also plan to have the mohair values published with the
show results in rural media.
We have discontinued the splitting of the 2-3 year
old doe class due to overall numbers. We will continue
to split the doe and buck 1-2 year old classes into
Fine and Medium groups.
The education seminar will be run on Friday afternoon
from 4.30 – 6.00 pm. It will be more of an interactive
workshop with 3 industry speakers getting participants
involved in what they do at their farm and sharing production
ideas. The theme is “Going into Angora Goats”,
what are the most critical points to running angora
goats successfully.
Judging Appointments
Mr Craig Clancy from AMMO has accepted the judging appointment
for the inaugural Mohair Production Championship. The
mohair fleece and stud animal judge will be announced
shortly.
Friday Requirements
The success of fibre testing mohair fleeces and hoggets
in the stud show on Friday will be continued in 2008.
This means that we can receive show fleeces on Friday
morning up until 10.00am. All hogget stud bucks and
does need to arrive at the showground by 3.30 pm on
Friday so they can be fleece tested. Other sale and
show animals can come in Friday or Saturday morning.
Multi Vendor
Stud Sale
There will be a stud sale on the Sunday morning. They
will be catalogued as stud does, pens of stud does and
stud bucks. Vendors are encouraged to bring further
information on sale animals to display above pens, such
as recent husbandry, production statistics, fleece test
reports and show results. Entries for the sale should
be sent on the official entry form. CLICK
HERE FOR THE NATS SALE CATALOGUE 2008
Junior Judging
and Parading
We are committed to supporting the students that are
involved in the industry and they help over the whole
weekend. We will be running a junior judging event on
Saturday and junior parading on Sunday morning before
the stud sale.
Great Social
Events
The Friday night get together will continue to be hosted
at the Peden Pavilion and is designed to welcome everyone
to Goulburn. We have changed the catering over the weekend
based on feedback and look forward to being able to
offer a bit more choice. The Saturday night official
NATS dinner will be held at the Best Western Centre
Town Motel. There are some formalities however they
are kept to a few speeches, announcement of some special
awards and official thank yous. It is a great chance
to catch up with everyone and is great value.
Entry Details
Entries closed on the 28th January 2008 and there will
be no late or faxed entries accepted because we want
to get the catalogue out one week earlier than this
year.
Please do not hesitate to contact Nick Gorrie
for more information on 02 9683 1224 or 0409 129 070.
Click
here for a programme of the weekend's events!
The
Madagascar Deal Comes True
Last year there were rumours of a big order for Angoras
to go the Madagascar. Australian Livestock Exports P/L
was trying to put together a shipment of young animals
but there were complications about the method of transport
and the voracity of the order. Apparently there was
a political issue involving the election for the President
in Madagascar and the deal failed to eventuate.
But this year it seems that it is back on. Full Story
submitted by Doug Stapleton - click
here
Issue
7 of
Goats On The Move available
on the MLA website - click
here
Goats
All the Go at Cowra
ANGORA goats are an integral
part of John and Janet Leigh’s grazing and cropping
operation, profitable in their own right, but also an
important part of weed control.
Dr John Leigh retired as an ecologist with the CSIRO
11 years ago and moved to “Booringa” Cowra.
But his association with goats goes right back to 1961,
when the difficulty of getting fresh milk led him to
run milking goats, first at Deniliquin and then near
Canberra. Click
Here to see full story.
A
“GOOD NEWS” STORY
From Helene Ypma—Bega NSW
Click
Here to read a story of a new producer.
NLIS
for Goats Commenced 1/1/2006
While it is important to check your state’s specific
requirements, key elements of NLIS (Sheep) include:
1. All states require Property Identification Codes
for sheep and goat properties by 1 January 2006.
2. All states will mandate the use of movement documentation
(waybills or National Vendor Declarations) by 1 January
2006.
3. All states require sheep and farmed goats born after
1 January 2006 to be identified with a visual ear tag
(breeder tag) before they leave their property
of birth.
4. Subsequent transactions involving identified sheep
and goats have to be supported by documentation noting
the PICs or pink NLIS (Sheep) post-breeder ear tag.
5. Animals born before 2006 do not have to be tagged.
6. Sheep and farmed goats born before 2006 will not
need tagging during the transition period (1 January
2006 to 31 December 2008) unless required for a particular
market or program. The transition period for Queensland
covers 2006 only.
7. Sheep and farmed goats will not require NLIS identification
if sold direct to slaughter over the hooks (refer to
states for local differences).
8. From 1 January 2009, all sheep and farmed goats
will require identification with an NLIS visual
tag before movement (2007 for I Queensland).
9. The national year of birth colour will be strongly
recommended to producers.
10. Producers will need to retain movement documentation
for several years.
Producers should check for any local variations with
their state department.
SA PIRSA Hotline 1800 654 688
WA Julian Gardner 09 9083 1106
Qld DPI & F call centre 132523
NSW 1300 720 405
Vic DPI Helpline 1800 678 779
Tas DPIWE 1300 368 550
Click
here for details of NLIS Compliant Ear Tag Manufacturers
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