In the central part of Oklahoma, there is a moderate sized town, Seminole. Seminole is where I grew up and have been my entire life. I own a business just outside of the community. Four T’s Boer Goats is the business which I run. At Four T’s, we raise 100% registered show Boer goats. Boer goats are meat animals and we raise them to be show animals or food. This business has been going strong since 2009. My parents and I have been all around the United States showing these gorgeous animals. Here at Four T’s, the main objective is to produce high caliber goats in to keep the business alive.
We started producing Boers in 2009; reason being was income and to make a difference in the diverse Boer goat industry. Boer goats originally came from South Africa. Someone brought the first Boer buck over to the U. S. and sold it for fifty thousand dollars. This industry is nationwide and as producers, we have to breed show quality animals that bring improvement across the board. Other producers in the industry use my animals to better the average Boer goat. Through precise bloodline crosses, I am able to produce larger framed, thicker animals.
An animal that has a larger body frame has more potential to produce more meat. I am integrating this effect into my herd. Ideally, this effect will spread nationally and will affect the Boer goat industry. Without the producers, the Boers would not gain the meat production as they do today. This is a big improvement from when the Boer goat first made it to the U. S. This is the reasoning for the producers, effectively increase the quality of the Boer goat. For improvement, we have to produce between 20 and 30 goat kids per year.
With the four acres of land that we own, we can efficiently raise these kids and maintain their parents. With the kids we produce, we can cover the price of feed and maintenance that the animals require, with a very nice profit as well. Therefore, before we make a profit there are a few processes that we have to go through to produce animals efficiently. Feed is the main investment into the business. We feed Essential Boer Goat Developer, Essential Maintenance, and a ration mix with 14% protein. Our variety of feed varies in price between nine and sixteen dollars per bag of feed.
I estimate our monthly feed bill to be approximately $550 per month. Transportation for these animals accounts for another large portion of the input. We use a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup and a 2013 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup with a 2011 Elite aluminum trailer to move the animals from place to place. As one could imagine, we have a large lump of cash invested in transportation. Not to mention the added expense of fuel. As a family farm, there is no outsourced labor to pay and we certainly do not pay ourselves.
We spend about 12 hours per week with the animals. This is training, clipping, and feeding the animals throughout each week. Spending time with these animals is half of the battle of success for showing them within the shows that we attend. Therefore, to attend these shows we use quite a bit of technology to prepare these animals and transport them from place to place. Clipping a goat requires some technology. To begin we use the water hoses and nozzles, which the manufacturer constructed not to break and be efficient in the equipment’s purposes.
Then there is drying the animal with a high output blower, which a producer may use on cattle as well. Now for the clipping. Clipping the goats requires some sort of clippers intended for livestock. Usually, Andes brand clippers are what one may see within the hands of a person clipping a goat. We use all of this technology very often to improve the image of a show goat. As one can imagine, just how many people compete against each other at every single show. Others are also running a business to, with any luck, outdo another business and produce better animals.
These other businesses are going to compete against my business. The other business can offer cheaper or higher prices for their animals as well. This is another sort of competition for our business. Therefore it can hurt our business by people either having better animals or cheaper prices for same, or lesser quality animals. However, it may not hurt the business because there is always someone around the state looking for animals to purchase. In addition, the bloodlines of these animals matter and are rarely identical. This separates our business from others as well.
On top of the bloodlines, in the recent years our bucks have been producing a very different color combination than the average paint markings on a Boer goat. This is setting my business apart from others producing paint animals. This has helped me be very successful in the show ring and out of the show ring. Therefore, my business sets itself apart from others just as another business would do from mine. The Boer Goat industry is very versatile and wide range on animals, which is the beauty of the industry. In the Boer Goat industry, there are always people around the U.
S. looking for show animals but there is not always the money to pay for them. Therefore, the economy affects the business in a big way. If people do not have the money to purchase an animal, then the people do not pay the business. As of now, the market is still going strong for show animals and the people of America seem to strive for these pricey animals. Even people from other countries come to purchase goats within the United States. They are either going to use them to breed their own animals, sell them, or take them to butcher to be processed for meat.
That would be a very expensive meal if said animal was of a caliber. Around the world, people know Boer goats for their rich meat. In fact, it is the main source of meat for foreign countries over beef. Therefore, the market is very strong with a promising future while showing no signs of slowing down. As for the economy, well it is what it is. As a United States citizen, I have to adapt to the world around me and adapt my business accordingly. Despite any future hardship of the economy, I will still be producing these beautiful animals.
