The New Way to sell young dairy goats
I
am excited to see the dairy goat industry begin to adopt a more
accessible path to top quality genetics. When I started looking for
good dairy goats nearly four years ago the scene was confusing. I
expected to see a bunch of good goats available and I could just pick
what I wanted. It didn't work that way in the show dairy goat industry.
Historically, dairy goat breeders have been very picky about two things.
1. What sort of goat was offered for sale?
1. What sort of goat was offered for sale?
"Breed
the best. Cull the rest." A good breeder will never offer for sale
something that is inferior. This could get a little extreme when many of
the "culls" from a long standing breeder could have been used to breed
up the local goat population but were never offered. At the same time,
you can appreciate the careful thought that goes into selling a quality
animal for a fair price.
2. Who was getting this goat?
2. Who was getting this goat?
This
is where it got dicey in my opinion. Because there had been so much
effort and time put into the genetics that did make it to the position
of "For Sale", there was a real concern that the goat went to a worthy
home. There was a conundrum here because some of the most excited people
to a hobby are the newest ones. They can scrape together the money and
yet they don't have a lot of experience. If you were new to the dairy
goat industry and didn't have the built up reputation to buy a super
quality animal, you had to build up your reputation by attending goat
shows and bringing whatever goat you could find and afford. Hopefully,
you found a good mentor and could work your way into the good genetics
eventually. This made for a lot of gate keeping. The good side of this
gate keeping is that good goats mostly stayed in good hands. The bad
side is that baby goats still were lost because of inexperience. Also,
some people were gate kept from good genetics simply because they didn't
"vibe" with powerful people in the goat world. Also, if your schedule
didn't allow a lot of goat shows, you stood less of a chance. Ringside
had an interesting podcast on this gatekeeping dynamic and basically
ended up defending gatekeeping.
Storming the Gates
Four years ago the only way to buy top shelf genetics from good herds was the Spotlight Sale. This was held at the ADGA Convention and was a lot of fun to watch. At this sale, there was no gatekeeping. If you had the money, you took home the goat. This was a trial and tribulation to the breeders but they got money from the sale and also the prestige of having their nomination accepted to this sale.
Enter Cameron Jodlowski. He envisioned setting up a dairy goat sale the way that Boer Goat breeders have been doing. SCO Online had been doing online sales for all classes of livestock and he was ready to do something different so two years ago he introduced the "Keeper Pen Sale". It was collaborative effort between himself and at least one other breeder and it went very well. The goats brought good money and the goat world pondered this success. This is only two years later and the "Keeper Pen Sale" has friends. I can think of at least four dairy goat online sales this spring. I don't know where it will stop but I know that on SCO there are over 14 goat sales going on today. None of these are dairy goat sales. There is a lot of money out there for goats. It is just that the dairy goat industry hasn't figured out the marketing pitch for the average person quite yet. We will get there I am sure.
Four years ago the only way to buy top shelf genetics from good herds was the Spotlight Sale. This was held at the ADGA Convention and was a lot of fun to watch. At this sale, there was no gatekeeping. If you had the money, you took home the goat. This was a trial and tribulation to the breeders but they got money from the sale and also the prestige of having their nomination accepted to this sale.
Enter Cameron Jodlowski. He envisioned setting up a dairy goat sale the way that Boer Goat breeders have been doing. SCO Online had been doing online sales for all classes of livestock and he was ready to do something different so two years ago he introduced the "Keeper Pen Sale". It was collaborative effort between himself and at least one other breeder and it went very well. The goats brought good money and the goat world pondered this success. This is only two years later and the "Keeper Pen Sale" has friends. I can think of at least four dairy goat online sales this spring. I don't know where it will stop but I know that on SCO there are over 14 goat sales going on today. None of these are dairy goat sales. There is a lot of money out there for goats. It is just that the dairy goat industry hasn't figured out the marketing pitch for the average person quite yet. We will get there I am sure.
Why do I love the online sales?
1.
No gatekeeping. If you want a goat, you can get that goat. It would be
much cheaper in the total picture to simply buy what you are looking for
and watch that goat like a hawk than to buy a medium grade goat (or
ten) and then slowly upgrade. Given two baby goats and solid management,
you could expect to be competitive in the local shows. That sounds
attractive to me. This option was not available 3 years ago.
2.
The price of the goat is found. Newcomers to the dairy goat world don't
know what a goat is worth and even long standing goat breeders don't
always know. I well remember a buck kid from a super dairy goat was
listed for a nice chunk of change if you reserved it ahead. Later, after
the goat was bred and delivered her babies in late spring, the breeder
posted the little bucks for sale for a very inexpensive price to simply
move them on. It is good to see what the actual price of a solid doeling
or buckling is. What will the market bear?
3. I hate to
disappoint people. If I bought a goat from someone and it passed away, I
would be heartbroken. A sale would help to remove the feeling that the
breeder is looking over your shoulder to make sure you are taking care
of their baby. I know most breeders aren't like that but there is still
that sense.
The main benefit to the online sales to me is the lack of gatekeeping. The highest price takes the goat most in demand. Marketing and a reputable breeder are still necessary for a successful sale but anytime we remove a barrier for the "unwashed masses" to succeed, the dairy goat industry will grow.
The main benefit to the online sales to me is the lack of gatekeeping. The highest price takes the goat most in demand. Marketing and a reputable breeder are still necessary for a successful sale but anytime we remove a barrier for the "unwashed masses" to succeed, the dairy goat industry will grow.