Affiliate Training & Conference FAQ

Have you registered yet? If not, is it because you have unanswered questions? Is it because you’re intimidated by the scale and complexity of the Des Moines International Airport? Is it because you’re afraid visiting Iowa in March will make you want to move here? Ready for more questions…and answers?

Q: What are the dates of the event?
A: Thursday, March 3 (Hands-On Clinic), Friday, March 4 (Affiliate Basic Training and All-Affiliate Social), Saturday, March 5 (Affiliate Conference). Click here for an overview and to download an agenda.

Q: Where can I find details about travel, accommodations, and things to do?
A: FarmLaunch.me

Q: What can I attend, and what do I have to attend?
A: All events are open to all affiliates. If you are a new affiliate you are required to attend the Basic Training on Friday, March 4. Second-year affiliates, and veteran affiliates who didn’t attend the event last year, can satisfy their training requirements by attending either the Basic Training or the Conference (or both!).

Q: I’m a new affiliate. How important is it that I attend the Hands-On Clinic on Thursday afternoon?
A: The clinic is completely optional. If you already have experience with electric net fences, solar fence energizers, and handling/moving goats, you may find the clinic to be too basic. However, if weather allows we will practice installing fencing outside in challenging places, setting up a hypothetical project, and loading goats into trailers, which may be new to you. There will also be time to meet and socialize with other affiliates.

Q: Is there a fee for any of the events?
A: The Hands-On Clinic, Basic Training, and Social are all free to attend. The Conference has a $150 registration fee per affiliate (bring as many representatives as you like for one fee).

Q: Do I have to register even if I’m only attending the free stuff?
A: Yes, please! Registering for each event you want to attend helps us with our planning.

Q: Can I bring people with me?
A: We encourage you to bring multiple representatives from your targeted grazing business at no extra charge. Family members, employees, etc. are all welcome — anyone you would consider to be part of your team.

Q: Can kids come along?
A: All of the events involve intense learning that young children would likely have trouble sitting through. If you have older kids (roughly middle school and up) that will be a part of your business, bring them!

Q: What’s the dress code?
A: No dress code, just a few recommendations. Friday’s and Saturday’s events will take place entirely inside. Dress casually and comfortably. We’ll take plenty of breaks, but there will be a fair bit of sitting. If you come to the Hands-On Clinic, warm outdoor work wear is a must. Wear your chore clothes and be prepared for anything from 10 degrees to 65 degrees. Much of the clinic will be held in an indoor — but unheated — horse arena.

Q: Are meals on my own?
A: We’ll provide snacks and drinks, but lunch on Friday and Saturday are on your own. We find that most attendees need a long lunch break away from the conference center to mentally recharge. There are lots of restaurants near the conference center.

Q: Tell me more about the All-Affiliate Social.
A: That’s not technically a question, but here goes…The social is the highlight of the weekend for many people. It’s simply a time to visit with other affiliates, ask questions, share experiences, and enjoy some appetizers and drinks. This year it will begin right after the Basic Training finishes (5:00-ish), but you don’t have to attend the Basic Training to come. If you’re attending the Conference on Saturday, plan to arrive in town early enough on Friday evening to join the party!

Q: Can I get a ride?
A: Absolutely! We can pick you up at the airport, take you to your hotel, and make sure you get to the local events. Contact Margaret at support@GoatsOnTheGo.com and let her know what you need.

Q: How do I register, and what’s the deadline?
A: Click the button below to register. You’ll add each event to your cart (even the free ones) just like any online store. Always enter “1” for the quantity. You’ll be cued to indicate how many team members from your business will attend before you check out. It would be extremely helpful to us if you register by February 15.

Order fencing while the gettin's good!

As some of you experienced last year, supply chain challenges and high demand for all things outdoors-y (including small farm and gardening stuff) made it really difficult for Premier 1 Supplies to keep their electric net fencing in stock. It looks like many of their models are currently available, but that may change as spring approaches.

The entire list of products that are eligible for Goats On The Go®’s 15% discount is posted on FarmLaunch.me. Normally we don’t talk about specific models outside of the Affiliate Training & Conference in early March, but to make sure you’re equipped come spring, here is a quick summary:

• If you’re a new affiliate, you will likely ignore this advice and learn the hard way, but we highly recommend against double spike fence models;

• We like short fences with small diameter posts because they are lighter and easier to hold while installing/uninstalling;

• If you live in a place with hard, rocky ground, “drive-able” posts may be a good upgrade;

• Pos/neg fence may be worthwhile if you’ll be working in an arid environment (but there are some downsides);

If you are a new affiliate who does not yet own any fencing, and you’re planning to start doing projects immediately in the spring, we’d recommend you buy 6 - 8 rolls of this fence model (in its standard version) soon to make sure you’re not sidelined by empty shelves. While you may find a fence model you like better as you gain experience, this one is likely to remain useful to you.

If you need help using your discount at Premier 1 Supplies, contact Margaret at support@GoatsOnTheGo.com.

Complete your annual report (yes, that's a thing)

Let’s just get the formal part out of the way right from the beginning. Your affiliate agreement says, under the section on Quality Control:

“Semi-Annual Reports: Licensor may require licensee to submit to Licensor a report as frequently as every six (6) months identifying the customers, and the customers’ contact information, that Licensee has, or is currently, provided Licensed Services to under this Agreement…

Those of you who’ve been affiliates for awhile now are probably thinking, “Really? Frequent, formal reports seem a little out-of-character for Goats On The Go®.” You’re right.

Still, we’d like to gather some information about the types of customers you’re serving so we can sharpen our marketing and communication with future customers and potential affiliates. Here’s what we’d like you to do.

1. Set aside 15 minutes to complete a simple online poll that will serve as your annual report. If it takes longer than 20 minutes to complete, you’re overthinking it.

2. Have 2021’s invoices handy. Or, maybe your calendar. Anything that will remind you of who you served and how many acres you completed for each customer.

3. Refer to Goats On The Go®’s Customer Segmentation document to refresh your memory.

4. Answer the questions with your best estimate. We’re not looking for precision here.

To add a little fun to this small chore, all affiliates who submit their reports by February 15, 2022 will be entered in a drawing for $50 of credit at the affiliate merchandise store!

Got questions? Contact Margaret at support@GoatsOnTheGo.com.

Guest Speaker for 2022 Affiliate Conference: Cherrie Nolden!

We are extremely excited to announce that Cherrie Nolden will be our guest speaker at the 2022 Goats On The Go® Affiliate Conference. Cherrie will speak twice at the event on March 5. One presentation will provide us with a more detailed, scientific basis for how goat grazing impacts vegetation. The other will focus on a science-based, holistic approach to managing goat health.

Cherrie’s bio: Cherrie Nolden is a forage-based farmer in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. She is working on a PhD in Animal and Dairy Sciences, and has earned a MS in Agroecology and a BS in Wildlife Ecology from UW-Madison. All three degrees involved grasslands, grazing systems and/or livestock health as components of the programs and research. Cherrie has 29 years of pastured livestock management experience. She and her husband, a soil scientist and organic fertility specialist, have purchased and operate 130 acres in southwest Wisconsin with 95 acres in silvopasture development, rotationally grazing 150 grain-free meat goats, 40 draft horses, 25 meat sheep, 30 egg layers, and 8 livestock guardian dogs. They occasionally raise grass-finished beef and pastured pigs. Cherrie has worked in multiple conservation agriculture positions interspersed between her degrees and is very familiar with Farm Bill programs, policies and practices. She enjoys teaching about invasive species management with livestock, pasture management for all species, parasitology, wildlife damage management and predator biology, livestock health, grassland bird habitat, dung beetle ecology, water quality and soil health. Systems thinking and holistic management are cornerstones of her approach and she loves helping others create profitable production systems that have high landscape function while also promoting farmer well-being.

We are very fortunate to have Cherrie to ourselves for a whole day, so you won’t want to miss the Conference on March 5, held in conjunction with the half-day hands-on clinic (March 3), and the full-day Affiliate Basic Training (March 4). Put it on your calendars, and start jotting down all your goat and vegetation management questions!

Is your goat grazing business ready for 2022?

Let’s not call this a list of New Year’s resolutions. Resolutions are cliche and too easily broken. Instead, let’s call it a list of New Year’s “go-get-’ems”. Here are some things to tackle now, so you’ll be charged up and ready to go when your spring 2022 grazing season starts.

1. Buy new/replacement equipment. If you’ve been doing targeted grazing for awhile, you probably have some rolls of fencing that are getting pretty ragged, and you know you’ll need to replace them…someday. Or, maybe you’re a new affiliate that is putting off the expense as long as possible. Don’t wait until spring! Buy them now (and don’t forget the discount)! Supply chain issues, inflation, and crazy demand for all things farm and outdoors are likely to continue, so place your order during Premier 1 Supplies’ slow time. Plus, if you act quickly you may be able to deduct those business expense on 2021’s taxes. If you have questions about what and how much to order, contact Aaron Steele at Aaron@GoatsOnTheGo.com.

2. Send greetings, get referrals. Get a thank you card out to your 2021 customers and ask for their business again in 2022, and give them a discount if they take you up on it. Consider making the card serve double duty as a coupon. Tell past customers they’ll get a gift certificate to a local shop or restaurant if a new customer hands you their greeting card along with their deposit for a new grazing project. The referring customer’s name and address will be on the card, so you’ll know right where to send their reward.

3. Get your GOTG paperwork in order and pay your 2022 affiliate fee. If your contract term expires on December 31, you likely need to take action to extend or renew your agreement. If you’re uncertain what you need to do, contact Margaret Chamas at support@GoatsOnTheGo.com. All affiliates also need to select a payment option for 2022 before January 15. You can choose to pay $2,000 for the year all at once, or you can set up 12 monthly payments of $200. Simply log-in to your account at FarmLaunch.me (or create one if it’s your first time), choose to add a new plan, select what’s best for you, and make your payment.

4. Plan to attend the annual Goats On The Go® Affiliate Training & Conference, March 3, 4, 5. We have two and a half days of amazing learning and networking available to you this year in West Des Moines, Iowa. While all events are open to all affiliates, new affiliates are required to attend the free Basic Training on March 4. More experienced affiliates can satisfy their contractual training requirements by attending either the Basic Training or the Conference on March 5 (or both!). Wondering if you’re due to attend training? Contact Margaret at support@GoatsOnTheGo.com.

Here’s to a bit of rest during the winter (unless you’re in California or Tasmania), and a Happy New Year!

Check this out: Affiliates Gus and Ann Maxfield receive conservation award!

Congratulations to Gus and Ann Maxfield for being awarded the Polaris Habitat Stewardship Award through Pheasants Forever!

It is incredibly exciting that Goats On The Go® affiliates are doing meaningful work for the earth through their goat grazing businesses all over the U.S. (and beyond). It’s especially rewarding to hear that members of our affiliate family are also applying their own resources, time, and sweat to conservation work right where they live.

Gus and Ann are truly leaders in conservation!

Click the button to read all about their efforts, including a nice mention of Goats On The Go®.

Inflation? Cost of living? Up 6%. Affiliate fees? Unchanged.

Woohoo!! If your affiliate agreement term ends on December 31, you can start 2022 with that new contract smell in your nose and with the knowledge that you are paying the same in 2022 that our very first affiliates paid in 2016!

In fact, if you’re ready to double-down on your Goats On The Go®/Sheep On The Go® grazing business, this would be a great time to talk with us about a multi-year contract extension rather than taking the usual one-year-at-a-time approach. Why? Because we can’t hold out against rapid inflation and other market pressures forever, and the standard affiliate fee will increase in 2023. Now is your chance to lock in today’s price for several years to come.

“Yes!” you say. “Where do I sign?!” Watch for a fresh contract coming your way next week. When you receive it, email Aaron Steele at aaron@GoatsOnTheGo saying you’d like to discuss a longer deal and he will reply with details.

Check this out: Star Creek Land Stewards podcast interview

The goat grazing industry is still young, and still sorting itself out when it comes to the best business models and the most prominent players. Obviously, we think Goats On The Go® is at the forefront on both counts, but there is value in checking in with other service providers on occasion to eliminate blind spots and sharpen our edge.

Star Creek Land Stewards out of California, while technically a competitor to Goats On The Go®, operates at a scale that none of our affiliates currently do, serving very large properties primarily for wildfire control. If one of our local affiliates is the neighborhood coffee shop, Star Creek is Starbucks. Big doesn’t necessarily mean profitable, nor does it automatically demand admiration. But Star Creek has been in business since 2014 while managing some pretty difficult logistics, and I (Aaron) have come to respect the company while watching them from afar. When they have something to say, I listen.

Check out this podcast interview with Star Creek’s owners on the Herd Quitter podcast, and listen for these themes:

• Techniques for grazing at scale, and the importance of stock density and paddock size regardless of overall project size

• The importance of understanding the customer’s needs and applying expertise to fill them

• The need for the targeted grazing business owner to embrace being a service provider, not just a livestock manager

I was encouraged to hear that, despite the project scale difference, Star Creek’s approach might as well have been plucked right out of Goats On The Go®’s training. Goats On The Go® affiliates will continue to have a real advantage in the marketplace so long as they keep applying real expertise, understanding their customers, and providing a professional service. Why? Because so few of our competitors are able to recognize that simple formula and execute on it — but you can!

Margaret Chamas now helping us to help you!

Goats On The Go, LC is very excited to announce that Margaret Chamas, who has long been an affiliate in the Kansas City area, has also joined our team on a part-time basis to help us in an administrative and support capacity.

Margaret’s main role is to help us serve you, our Goats On The Go®/Sheep On The Go® affiliates, better! The rapid growth of the affiliate network over the last few years has made it a challenge to integrate new affiliates while also maintaining and enhancing the support you’ve come to expect from Goats On The Go®’s founders. Margaret brings a wealth of goat grazing experience and an understanding of our operations, and we are blessed to have her help.

You can reach Margaret at support@GoatsOnTheGo.com for help with any of the following tasks or issues:

• Make a change to the text on your profile page or in the affiliate directories on GoatsOnTheGo.com

• Add or change a photo of yourself, family, or staff on your profile page

• Add a button on your profile page to link to a social media account for your grazing business

• Change the phone number or email where customers reach you through your profile page

• Get help finding a particular resource on the FarmLaunch.me affiliates-only website

• Get help selecting a payment plan and paying your affiliate fee on FarmLaunch.me

• Get help accessing discounts from Premier 1 Supplies, American Solar Grazing Association, or any other partners

• Get help registering for the annual Affiliate Training & Conference and paying any associated fees

• Get help joining the Affiliate Facebook Group

• Ask general procedural and administrative questions

For support with the following issues, please continue to contact Aaron Steele (aaron@GoatsOnTheGo.com or 515-257-6846):

• Business strategy consultations (pricing, promotion, competition, customer targeting)

• Advice on business processes, software, and automation

• Grazing project planning and troubleshooting

• Customer relations advice and support

• Local government relations advice and support

• Media relations advice and support

• Questions and clarifications about trademarks and the Brand Manual

• Review and feedback regarding draft press releases and promotional pieces

• Choosing or changing your affiliate descriptor (the place name that follows “Goats On The Go®” in your company’s name, e.g. “Goats On The Go® Kansas City”)

• Modifying, renewing, or extending affiliate contracts

• Changing territory boundaries

• Delays or extensions of affiliate fee payments

And, as always, the Affiliate Facebook Group remains an invaluable source of support from your fellow affiliates on virtually any topic. Margaret will also be hanging out there, looking for ways to help you.

Welcome, Margaret!

What’s new for 2022?

You may still be going strong with your 2021 grazing season, and you have plenty left on your plate for this year. Don’t sweat it. We’re not going to give you anything else to do right now.

But, we do have some new stuff planned for 2022 that you can be thinking about so you’re ready to take action in the coming months:

• If you are completing the second year of your initial contract with Goats On The Go®, you can take advantage of a built-in, one-year renewal for 2022. Everything stays the same and no new paperwork is required. All you have to do is pay your affiliate fee by January 15 (more on that later).

• If your contract expires at the end of 2021, we’d love to renew it with you! You’ll be getting an email from us in the next few weeks with more details.

• Good news, bad news. The good news is our affiliate fees have never gone up since we started the program in 2016, and they won’t go up for new contracts or contract renewals in 2022! The bad news is that we can’t hold out against inflation and other market pressures forever, and affiliate fees will increase for new contracts and contract renewals in 2023. If your current contract expires at the end of this year, now is the time to consider a longer term contract renewal to lock in today’s affiliate fee for future years. More details to come.

• If you’d like to change the installment schedule for your affiliate fees, you’ll have the option to do so at the end of the year. For 2022 you’ll be able to choose between annual installments of $2000 or monthly installments of $200.

• We have a new affiliate payment system! All 2022 affiliate fees will be paid on the FarmLaunch.me site with the account log-in you already use to access Goats On The Go® and Sheep On The Go® resources. You will receive an email near the end of 2021 asking you to log-in to the site, select your installment schedule, and pay.

• The 2022 Goats On The Go® Affiliate Training & Conference is March 4 - 5 in West Des Moines, Iowa! We’ve got some great stuff planned and there will be lots of new faces. Put it on your calendars now!

More explanation of all of these things will be coming your way in the near future, but if you’d like to get details sooner rather than later, contact Aaron Steele.

New affiliate store! New branded GOTG gear!

We are so excited to announce the launch of a completely revamped online store available only to Goats On The Go® affiliates! You can access the new store through the FarmLaunch.me site or by clicking below.

This new store has a much improved selection of GOTG gear in a greater variety of styles and colors. And it’s only going to get better! The supply chain logjam that seems to be affecting all kinds of consumer goods is also affecting custom branded apparel, apparently. Hats and more women’s fit shirts are a couple of things on our wish list that somehow don’t exist in today’s economic environment — but we’ll get them eventually, and we’ll let you know when new items are available for order.

Speaking of ordering, the affiliate store is now operated by a third party called “HuddleUp.” It’s a print on demand service, so there is no inventory. When you order something, they print it and ship it, so delivery times can be a bit longer. Keep that in mind if you need gear in advance of a particular occasion.

HuddleUp also handles returns and customer service, so if you have an issue with an item contact them first. But, we’d like to hear your feedback on the quality of their service and on your satisfaction with the products you order, so let us know.

Oh, and safety green t-shirts are now available, so we expect a video post in the group chat soon of the Harbaugh family doing the Safety Dance in their new tees.

Check this out: Fenced Area Calculator

So, you’ve just installed a fresh paddock of electric netting on your latest goat grazing project and it was a lot of work. As you wipe the sweat from your brow and the blood from your latest thorn puncture you’re thinking, “I wonder how long until I have to do that again.”

Being a targeted grazing expert, you would be able to predict how many days until your goats need more food if only you knew how much area you just enclosed. Yes, you could walk it with the GPS app on your phone, but you’re exhausted, remember?

Instead, just count up how many fence segments you installed for the length and width of the paddock, and plug those numbers into the handy dandy Fenced Area Calculator spreadsheet that you downloaded from the “Business Tools” section of the FarmLaunch.me website. If you’re using standard Premier 1 fences with 12.5’ spacing between posts, you can even count up the number of installed fence “panels” and plug those numbers into the calculator.

You might also consider using the Fenced Area Calculator to plan out fence installs in advance of arriving at a new project, or even as part of your quote preparations for a new customer. The possibilities are endless! (Not really. That’s about all of them.)

Who gets to be Goats On The Go® affiliates?

A question came in recently from an affiliate asking about how we screen potential affiliates before we sign a contract with them. As the person asking the question said, “Does anyone with $2000 and dream get to be an affiliate?”

You all deserve an answer to that question. After all, we all depend on the strong reputation of the Goats On The Go® brand, and harm done by any single affiliate across the U.S. (and beyond!) has the potential to negatively impact the rest of us. This is especially true in places where we have multiple, nearby affiliate territories being operated by different people. Customers in any given place are unlikely to distinguish between the individual territories when they heap praise or curses on Goats On The Go® on Facebook. Every affiliate in the area benefits from the praise, intended for them or not, and suffers from the curses.

Take a moment and think back to when you were considering becoming an affiliate. I hope one or more of the following describes your experience, because there was intention behind the process:

• Information was plentiful, but I had to ask for it.

• If I took a step, Goats On The Go® would give me more info and tell me the next step.

• It seemed like the ball was always in my court.

• I remember wondering why they weren’t pursuing me more.

• I was ready to sign on day one, but Goats On The Go® seemed to drag their feet.

• I was totally skeptical, even a little ornery, but they just kept answering my questions.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…Goats On The Go® has a really terrible affiliate conversion rate. We’re not good sellers. Since we started the affiliate program in 2016 we’ve received over 2000 inquiries from potential affiliates. Lately we’ve been receiving 5-6 inquiries per day. We now stand at 36 affiliate territories. You represent the 2% of survivors who made it through the process! You’re like Navy Seals without the crew cuts!

And, like Navy Seals, our candidates mostly self-select. We don’t make candidates announce their dropping out of the process by ringing a bell for all to hear as the Seals do. But, we try to leave lots of room for potential affiliates to lose interest, decide it’s not for them, postpone it for a better time, or simply flake out. We can’t read every corner of a person’s soul in an interview, but we can make darn sure they really want to be an affiliate by making them initiate almost every step through the process.

Speaking of interviews, you’ll recall that we had at least a couple of phone calls with you before you signed your affiliate contract. We didn’t label any of those as an interview, but we were paying attention. We also had you complete an affiliate application. These screening processes tell us something about the candidate’s passion and drive, but beyond that the best we can expect is for very obvious red flags to be revealed. We can only learn so much about a person in advance, which is why we lean heavily on self-selection.

So, be proud, Goats On The Go® affiliates! You’re the best. You wanted it the most. You saw your opportunity and you decided to goat for it. No goats, no glory!

Virtual affiliate meet-up this Friday

For many of us, the light is visible at the end of the tunnel, signaling that our grazing seasons will be drawing to a close in the next six weeks or so. Others of you may only be a little more than half-way through.

Either way, it’s a good time for a virtual affiliate meet-up (the people are real, the meet-up will be virtual)! Join us this Friday, September 10 at 6 p.m. Central, to see each other webcam to webcam, hear each other’s digitally transmitted voices, share victories and challenges, and ask questions. Click the link below to join the Zoom meeting.

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Attendance at the meet-up is completely optional, and it will be very casual. Grab your dinner and gather around the laptop to start your weekend. We’ll try to keep it to an hour or less, and you can come and go as you please.

We’re looking forward to seeing you!

Check this out: "Pro" fence now available (with discount!) from Premier

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As you know, we here at Goats On The Go® have a mantra that steers our recommendations for portable electric netting: “short, simple, and light.”

That has led us to recommending Premier 1 Supplies’ Electronet 9/35/12 almost universally. However, Premier may have come up with an upgrade that is actually an upgrade with its new “Pro” version of that same fence. Rather than adding extra spikes, thicker posts, and other gadgets to the new model, this version focuses on improving the conductive strands, braiding the tiny metal filaments together with the nylon instead of twisting them.

Premier says this process puts more of the conductive filaments on the exterior of the strands, resulting in better animal contact. Braiding also makes the strands less “snaggy,” so we’re hoping there will be less breakage of the metal filaments over time. Broken filaments interfere with the passage of electricity down the fence, and those tiny wires protrude like needles when they are broken, just waiting to stick your hand. We could all do with less of those. Anyone out there know what I mean? Can I get an “Amen”?

The downside to the Pro fence is the cost — $210 per roll versus $135 per roll for the standard version. Fortunately, we’ve worked with Premier to make the new version eligible for the Goats On The Go® discount. It should cost you $178.50 per roll.

Is it worth it? Time will tell. We’d love to hear your reviews at the Goats On The Go® Annual Training and Conference in March!

Changes to Big Herd Loaner Program

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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.

Check this out...Farm Dog podcast

Anyone out there interested in herding dogs and livestock guardian dogs? How about terriers and other farm dogs? Am I (Aaron S.) the only nerd who could talk about breed histories and training and canine farm hands for hours and not get enough? Quite possibly, yes.

But the Farm Dog podcast, which I host, has been out there for the public to download for a couple of months now, and the listener analytics tell me there are literally tens of people in the world like me. I suspect some of you might be also.

There are four, hour-long episodes ready to be consumed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and many other platforms, and several more already in the can. Here’s what’s available so far:

• Episode 1: 25 farm dogs, 1200 sheep and goats, 1 rancher (Greg Christiansen)

• Episode 2: McNab Dog, Colorado Mountain Dog, and Goat Grazing Business (with our very own harmOny Davies!)

• Episode 3: 93 working dog breeds for the farm, all in 1 book! (Janet Vorwald Dohner)

• Episode 4: Flint: 2020 Farm Dog of the Year (Beth and Rhett Crandall)

Coming soon are episodes about guardian dogs in the land of wolves and mountain lions, border collies as cow dogs with a serious cowboy, and a breed profile on the English shepherd.

Each episode is a labor of love, but also a promotion for Goats On The Go®, so listen, leave a review, and share it with others. Thanks!

How does Goats On The Go® use your information?

You may have noticed that, other than the detailed affiliate agreement you signed, we here at Goats On The Go® are not big on contracts and formal policies. We like to avoid “legalese” whenever we can. There are no “end user agreements” for you to not read and acknowledge by checking little boxes after scrolling through 10 pages of text.

Nonetheless, it’s probably time that we put together a policy of sorts as to how Goats On The Go, LC will use and not use your information. So, here goes…

Your contact information:

• We will connect potential customers to you using the phone number and email address you’ve given us for your profile page on the GoatsOnTheGo.com website;

• We will give your contact information to Premier 1 Supplies to make you eligible for the affiliate discount;

• You will receive the “Affiliate Notes” newsletter at your email address, but you may unsubscribe at any time;

• Until you unsubscribe, you will continue to get promotional emails intended primarily for recruiting new affiliates (you can decide if these are still useful to you or not);

• We will not sell any of your contact information.

Your photos posted on the Goats On The Go® Affiliate Facebook Group (or other internal forum):

• We operate under the assumption that if you post a before/after photo set on the forum, you’d like to have it promoted, and Goats On The Go, LC may use it in its own promotions and will give you credit for the photo;

• For photos that are not before/after pics, we encourage all affiliates to seek permission from the poster before using them, and always credit the owner;

• We encourage everyone to be sensitive to the fact that some photos that are posted inside the forum are not intended for broad public consumption — we want everyone to be comfortable sharing their bad days as well as their good days;

Your public posts on all social media platforms:

• If they are public, we follow the rules of the platforms for sharing affiliates’ posts.

Your family/staff photo you submitted for your profile page on GoatsOnTheGo.com:

• If you designated a photo to accompany your profile page on our website (which we recommend), we make the assumption you want it to be part of the promotion of your targeted grazing business;

• Unless you tell us otherwise, we may use your profile photo in promotional emails, social media posts, etc. with the intent of driving customers to you.

That’s it. Simple, short and sweet. If you would like the 10-page legalese version, or if you have any questions, contact Aaron Steele.

To solar graze or not to solar graze? Think like a farmer.

If you’re reading this you’ve been through the Goats On The Go® basic training, and many of you have been profiting from your goat grazing service for years. If there’s one thing you should know by now, it’s that your service is worth far more than the value of the food your goats get from your customer’s properties. Right? Right?! (Crowd responds with a resounding, “Yes!!”)

You’ve learned to not think like a farmer even though you are a livestock caretaker. A farmer would say, “I have livestock to feed, livestock feed costs money, so if you give me livestock feed (weeds and brush on your property), it’s like you’re giving me money!” We know better, don’t we? Providing our goat grazing service is hard and too valuable to give away for free.

But when it comes to deciding whether you want to offer grazing on solar fields in your territories, you should think like a farmer — sort of.

How does a farmer think?

Here’s some farmer-think that can help us with decisions about solar grazing:

• Farmers think at scale. They deal with large expenses and large revenues all the time, and instead if being intimidated, they ask, “How do we get this done?” Their solutions are also big.

• Farmers think in seasons and years, not days and weeks. They tolerate inconsistent cash flow in exchange for fewer, but larger payoffs.

• Farmers covet land, buying or leasing every acre they can get their hands on so long as they believe they can make a profit by producing crops or raising livestock on it.

Suppose a landowner said to a farmer, “I have 500 acres of pasture you can graze your livestock on, and you don’t have to pay me anything to lease it.” Would the farmer say, “That’s mighty generous of you, but I don’t currently have enough animals to make use of it. I’ll pass.”? Um, no. The farmer would have his/her banker on the phone so fast your head would spin, asking to borrow money for an additional 100 cows, or 200 feeder steers, or a new hay rake and baler, or…800 sheep.

You see where this is headed, right? Suppose you’re offered 500 acres of solar farm to graze and, low and behold, the landowner wants to pay you $300 - $500 per acre for the season. You stand to make at least $150,000 just for the act of grazing. You might also be able to add 60 pounds each to 800 feeder lambs on that solar farm. That’s 48,000 pounds of lamb at — let’s be very conservative here — $1.80 per pound. That’s $86,400 (current market prices are $3 or more per pound, by the way). These are big numbers, and they demand big upfront investments and likely the help of a bank or backer. But, put those numbers into a decent business plan and your banker will smile.

None of this is meant to imply that solar grazing is simple, or that it doesn’t require more from the Sheep On The Go® affiliate than it would a farmer in a purely agricultural context. It may call for employees, haulers, and the solving of serious logistical problems. And, you’ll have to be the same expert targeted grazing professionals that you are when solving weed and brush problems with goats. But don’t let the size of the perceived obstacles stop you.

But I don’t own sheep!

The biggest obstacle for most of us is simply that we don’t own sheep, or not enough sheep, or don’t know where to get sheep and couldn’t afford them anyway. Let me share a secret with you: NO ONE HAS ENOUGH SHEEP. That’s right. And there’s really not much sense in starting your flock now thinking you’ll grow it to the right size by the time your first solar grazing project comes along. Get some sheep now to learn how to raise and care for them if you want, but there’s no way the 10 or 20 you buy today will grow to the 800 - 1000 you’ll need for solar grazing when your first contract comes around. And solar sites of meaningful size may not even pop up in every affiliate’s territory, and even if they do, you may not get the gig.

Instead, prepare by being listed as a solar grazing affiliate on the Goats On The Go®/Sheep On The Go® website and become a member of the American Solar Grazing Association. Learn everything you can about solar grazing, and work on your business plan in preparation for the day when you need to go looking for a huge number of sheep and other assets all at once.

And think big! We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue here! For that kind of money you’ll be searching all around the country for your sheep, not all around the county. Semis, livestock brokers, and big checks will probably be involved. You’ll also need to be creative. Do I need to keep 800 ewes through the winter and breed and lamb them, or could I buy weaned feeder lambs every spring? Could I lease the sheep I need? Could I strike a deal to raise sheep for someone else who is in need of more pasture? Could I get paid by the sheep owner for this “custom grazing” based on the pounds of lamb I return in the fall? Big problems, big solutions.

It’s probably crossed your mind by now that managing nearly a thousand (or more!) sheep would turn you into a full-time farmer/rancher who also offers a targeted grazing service, rather than a targeted grazing pro who takes a few animals to market every now and then. For some of you, that’s your dream and you’re champing at the bit to get started. However, some of you may love your goat grazing business just as it is, and you’re not really interested in growing an agricultural livestock operation beyond what’s necessary to do your goat projects. That’s awesome! Keep at it. No need to change.

But if your dream is to grow a livestock farm in parallel with your grazing business, there’s not a more profitable way to do it than solar grazing, and no one is better positioned to do it than Goats On The Go®/Sheep On The Go® affiliates! Don’t let solvable problems discourage you from chasing this opportunity.

Sheep On The Go® resources page available

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As you know, FarmLaunch.me is now the place to go for all support information for your Goats On The Go® business. If you haven’t yet created an account there, please do.

What you may not know is that Sheep On The Go® resources are also available at FarmLaunch.me. If your affiliate agreement grants you access to the SOTG brand package (all newly signed agreements for 2021 include it), or if you requested and signed the free addendum to your agreement, your FarmLaunch account should now grant you access to the SOTG portion of the site. If it doesn’t, or if you want to be added, contact Aaron.

The SOTG resources are still pretty sparse, but we’ll be building them out in the coming months. However, there is something very valuable to be found in the SOTG portion of FarmLaunch.me — the discount link for the American Solar Grazing Association. Click it and you’ll be able to become an ASGA member at a substantially discounted price, allowing you to create a listing as a solar grazing provider and be placed on the ASGA map.

Even if you’re not ready to do a solar grazing project right now, you should create an ASGA listing if you’re interested in solar grazing projects in the future. Solar farms take time to plan, design, and build so you don’t have to be ready now. You just need to be ready to pitch yourself as the future solution to solar developers’ vegetation management needs!