Big day out for producers, families and kids: Tassie’s goat-to celebration

HUNDREDS of people are expected to flock to Tasmania’s biggest goat industry event later this month. 

GoatFest will be held on Sunday, January 26, at the Longford Showgrounds from 10am-3pm.

Organiser Anna Shepheard said the event has something for everyone. 

“I’m starting to get regular inquiries from people on the mainland wanting know how they can recreate it interstate which is quite interesting,” she said. 

The event will include miniature goats, Angoras, Boer Goats and a number of dairy goat breeds. 

There will also be a range of children’s activities for younger family members. 

Throughout the day the pro gram will include a number of educational presentations on a wide range of goat husbandry and industry-related topics including artificial breeding, milking goats, goat fleeces and also basic care information like nutrition. 

The event will feature breed organisation displays, a biosecurity display to help people understand the new tagging requirements for goats and Agrifutures will also be in attendance. 

There will also be shopping opportunities with everything from soaps to scarves and a variety of food and drinks available throughout the day. 

Ms Shepheard said the event is ideal for people who may already be goat owners or looking at getting some goats. 

“It’s a great place to get educated and to network and connect with breeders and work out what type of goat is going to work best for them and their situation depending in what they’re wanting to achieve,” she said. 

Goat breeder Lesley Richards runs the Tippy Toes Dairy Goats stud at Quamby Brook and is also one of the exhibitors and GoatFest organisers this year.

Ms Richards breeds Nigerian Dwarfs and miniature Anglo Nubians. As well as being very cute with big personalities, Ms Richards said both the breeds have excellent milk pro duction traits.

Ms Richards uses milk from the goats to produce a range of soaps and is also working on developing a range of other skin care products made from goat milk. 

Last year her products won the GoatFest soap competition in what was her first time competing. 

Ms Richards said they focused on breeding productive goats while maintaining good breed type. 

She said the Nigerian Dwarfs had very high butter fat content which makes their milk great for soap making. 

She said combining the milk from the miniature Anglo Nubians and the Nigerian Dwarfs produces milk of the right consistency and butter fat content to make top quality soaps.

While the miniature goats are often thought of as pets, Ms Richards said there are now studs testing and producing very good data when it comes to milk production.

This year’s GoatFest event will also include a variety of different trade stalls. 

To find out more go to the GoatFest Tasmania Facebook page.