Over the last three years, several Goats On The Go® affiliates in the Midwest have taken advantage of the Big Herd Loaner Program to tackle large projects that they would not have had the capacity to do otherwise. This herd was a combination of about 200 goats owned by the Steele and Steenhoek families (the original founders of Goats On The Go®), and it traveled with fencing, a fence energizer, and other gear — all at no cost to the affiliate other than trucking. Prior to that, the Steele’s and Steenhoek’s traveled to do large projects with its big herd in three states.
The main goals for this herd were to:
Prove that large projects can be profitable and at what prices;
Create a model for managing the logistics of large projects;
Fill a void in the marketplace for large-acreage grazing for government and private conservation groups;
Give more affiliates large-acreage grazing experience without each one having to maintain their own large herds.
We feel like we’ve achieved these goals, so the Steele’s and Steenhoek’s will not be loaning out their big herd in 2022. However, we’d love to see a few Goats On The Go® affiliates in each region of the U.S. (and Canada?) scale to a size that allows them to lease large numbers of goats to other affiliates on an as-needed basis.
We’ve learned some important lessons about maintaining a large herd for targeted grazing, and how those economics interact with the economics of meat goat production. If you’d like to visit about becoming a “big herd hub,” let’s talk! Call Aaron Steele at 515-257-6846 or send an email.