USING Soft Rolling Skin (SRS) Merino breeding systems Australian sheep breeders are also cashing-in on the lucrative mohair industry, and Dubbo-based brothers, Scott and Robert Mudford and families of Parkdale, began their venture four years ago.
And it's not only the richly rewarding fibre and goat meat returns, but also the added advantage of running sheep and goats together which adds to the income mix.
Robert Mudford said they run the mix together adding 10 per cent of goat numbers to Merino without affecting the stocking rate in the Central West sheep/wheat mixed-farming environment.
Through SRS networking the Mudfords could see mohair production as an extra grazing enterprise and goats had been plentiful in the western region leading up to this drought.
"There are about 20 SRS Angora goat breeders who started breeding polled animals about 10 years ago and they have now got fleeces to a top standard," Robert Mudford said.
"So we stepped right into the industry at the right time and can acquire poll genetics with the right fleece and carcase traits already there," he said.
The Mudfords have a goat depot on their Winrae property at Barringun, which they lease out and began sourcing young Australian Bush Goat (ABG) nannies in 2015.
These were joined to SRS Angora bred bucks and the income stream commenced with the first-cross F1 progeny in 2016 after the nannies had grown old enough to join. They produce two kids and then sold back to the depot for meat value, which is also lucrative.
The family is now running 1000 head of F1, F2 and up to purebred does at Parkdale.
Scott Mudford said it didn't matter what colour the bush goats were, 98pc of their progeny are born white.
"We shear twice a year in February and August in time to help fill containers bound for processing in South Africa in March and September," he said.
This week the Mudfords were shearing their first-cross does which were cutting an average one kilogram of mohair which they predict would return approximately $10 to $12.
"Last year mohair off our F2 does made about $5/kg less that the purebred mohair as the second cross fibre has very little kemp (medullated fibre) so it's more valuable," he said.
"To enter the mohair industry using all purebred Angoras in a 1000-head herd would be impossible.
"Agora stud breeders do not have large numbers in their herds, so it was more sensible to utilise what we had out west, bush nannies."
Last year the Mudford family gained an average of $26 a kilogram for their mohair grown by 1000 does which run with a stud flock of 1300 ewes and a commercial flock of 9000 ewes under normal seasons across several central west and western properties.
According to Robert Mudford, the price was for all shearings from first-cross to purebreds with the top return being $44/kg greasy for purebred mohair.
And that's twice a year as shearings are in February and August.
By 2017 the family had their first-cross drop and the F2 kids arrived in 2018.
"This year our F3s will each produce a good fleece, but not quite the weight of a purebred," Mr Mudford said.
"We are producing staple lengths from 130 millimetres to 160mm in six months while the ideal length required by the industry is 150mm to 180mm, but we'll get there." he said.
"The average micron of mohair is between 35 to 40 micron, but under the SRS system we are starting to produce under 21 micron fibre, and that could fetch $40/kg."
Another advantage of using ABG nannies in the mohair crossbreeding program is the extra kidding percentages.
Scott Mudford said the traditional Angora kidding percentage was near 70 to 80 per cent.
"Our F1s last year in extremely difficult drought conditions gained 120-plus pc while the F2s made 100pc," he said.
"And since we have started, goat meat prices have soared as well.
It's probably the dearest red meat about and has reached up to $10/kg with the higher world demand for goat meat and mohair.
Sharing the same infrastructure as fencing, yards and shearing shed also adds to cost savings together with the use of goats for weeding.
