UNITY Boer Goat Farm, based in Manchester, is known for exotic goat breeds, with a similar live weight to pigs that sell for up to 10 times more than the common goat.

Owen Bartley, managing director at Unity, says his goats can weigh up to 300 pounds but his prized Boer bucks – Cable, Striker and Blade – weigh over 350 pounds. That equates to the weight of an adult pig.

He explained that genetics play a role in achieving quality livestock but nutrition and care are also critical.

“I want a premium herd so I retain the best and sell the rest. Over time it improves the genetics of the goats,” he said.

The typical goat farmer earns $40,000 to $65,000 from selling a ram goat, while Bartley can earn significantly more based on the superior genetics of his herd.

Bartley received the Jamaica Agricultural Society award for Champion Goat Farmer in 2018 and 2019 at the annual Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show. The show was cancelled this year due to contagion fears arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Unity rears its goats in raised, stress-free, roofed housing, with bucks separated from does. The kids are placed in separate “creeper pens” beside their mothers to allow for maximum feed intake resulting from reduced competition between goats. The board floors are slotted to allow for waste matter to fall through to the ground below. Goats are fed hay, grasses, and foliage. Bartley supplements this diet with Hi-Pro Natral Goat Ration for their energy and protein requirements, including a general maintenance ruminant ration plus premium goat ration for his exotic and champion stock.

Local goat production dropped by 20 per cent over the last five years, according to official data from the Planning Institute of Jamaica. During this period Bartley grew his business by optimising his herd genetics to produce more meat, more milk, and an unblemished carcass.

“Breeders like Unity are the catalysts for increasing local production of quality goat meat. By crossing Bartley’s pure breds with our common goats, we get a larger animal that produces more meat and milk,” said Khalil Brown, animal nutritionist at Hi-Pro.

Brown stressed the need for increasing the breeding female goat population in Jamaica.

“Our partnership with Unity is about using reproductive-assisted technology to achieve that goal,” he explained.

“Essentially, Unity would become a regional supplier of genetics – providing embryos and semen for artificial insemination and embryo transfer from quality genetic stock to farmers in Jamaica and the region.

“We want to stop depending on imported genetics from North America by developing our own breeding programme and genetic database,” said Brown.

The island imported US$12.5 million in frozen sheep, lamb and goat meat in 2019. The imports grew by about 15 per cent over five years from US$11 million in 2015, at a time when local production dropped by 20 per cent.

Jamaica imports 90 per cent of the goat and mutton consumed. The ruminant sector wants to replace 10 per cent of imports with local production in the medium term, Brown reasoned. But there is room for local farmers to be significantly more aggressive, with proper focus on nutrition and breeding practices.

The Small Ruminant Association of Jamaica estimates that farmers need to produce 2.5 million heads of goat to fill the importation gap, and Hi-Pro is supporting the sector in their effort to increase the national herd.