Goats were brought over to this country almost exactly five centuries ago. For something that has been around so long, it’s amazing that this animal has flown under the radar of popular consumer taste for most of its residency here in North America. But goats have a lot to offer to the agricultural universe, as the rest of the world has known for thousands of years. That realization is finally hitting our production markets, and it’s due to the efforts of people like our guest today.
Randy Dusek, President of the American Goat Federation, was gracious enough to sit down with us (okay, so we stood in the goat pasture) to talk about the amazing animal that is the goat. On The Lazy S-T Ranch in the San Angelo area of Texas, Randy raises the powerhouse meat producer known as the American Boer Goat. He also has about 100 head of Hereford’s – the bovine type – and is busy helping to create The Cattleman’s Guide to Raising Goats, which outlines the benefits of having these two non-competitive critters pastured together. Randy is tireless in his efforts to help people to learn about these amazing animals, and about as patient a guy as we’ve met. We’ll be speaking with him again in the future about not only the American Boer Goat, but about all of the breeds of goat that he faithfully represents.
Just a note here: We know there are dairy goats, and fiber goats, and meat goats, and even brush control goats, but pack goats? That was a new one to us. Future podcasts are on our radar for something as interesting as that sounds. Randy, we’re coming back to test your patience again soon.