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A Portion of Dr. Pinkerton's 2019 October column in the Goat Journal  

I recently reported that the Indian Territory Farm full-blood Savannah herd owned by Glen and Marjorie Edwards of Comanche, OK had been dispersed due to age, health, and labor issues. I am now pleased to report that most of the animals were purchased by Friendship Farms near Savanna GA. In his youth, new owner David Horton had 400 head of briar goats and later he brought the first Boer goats into GA. He got out of the goat business to focus on growing his commercial cattle and helping his family’s specialized wood business. 

Later on, he got into purebred and commercial Angus cattle production and within a few years he became Georgia’s recognized premier breeder (number one in registrations for three consecutive years. He conducts his own bull and cow sales each year, and two years ago he sold half interest in the nation’s top Angus bull, FF Rito Righteoius  (largest ribeye area and most marbling density, plus excellent ADG) for $255,000. Rito’s dam brought $125,000 for half interest, Rito’s flush sister sold for $240,000 full-interest and another full sister brought $90,00 full interest.

David has recently added 100 commercial does (Spanish, Kiko, Boer crosses for recipients and for subsequent cross-breeding to Savanna bucks. Friendship Farms plans to have an annual production sale of Savanna goats in the future similar to his Angus sales. He plans to sell the top-end registered bucks and does based on performance records, as well as large groups of half Savanna females.  

In mid 2018, I flew to Savannah to consult with David concerning his stated goal of developing the nation’s outstanding full-blood Savanna goat herd. He has the necessary resources to do so, and he sought my counsel on meat goat management and marketing matters in addition to information on sources (and possible sales) of Savanna breeding stock. Given his Angus experience featuring detailed performance-testing, he was purely astounded to hear that very few US Savannah growers, full-blood or commercial, production-test their animals. As a consequence, he would have had to make initial purchases based on visual appearance and on owner records of reproductive performance. Contrarily, ITF had always performance-tested this herd (following the lead of the Kenneth Mincy-imported goats near Atlanta GA).

I made various recommendations to David regarding herd management: land needs, fencing and facilities, forage production, supplemental nutritional needs, health issues, etc. but my most crucial recommendations were 1) to enroll his herd in a comprehensive record keeping program and 2) to obtain adjusted litter weaning rates for each doe to enable him to make accurate keep-or-cull decisions. Influenced by his Angus performance protocols, he also plans to take body-weights at 7 months, 12 months, and 18 months so as to know individual growth patterns and to generate/record his own visual conformation scores over time. 

David will enroll his herd in a comprehensive record keeping program to enable precise, on-going compilation of management activities for individual goats (pedigree, health, reproductive performance, kid growth weights, adjusted litter weaning weights, and disposal date and reason). I am strongly recommending Jean Harrison’s EasyKeeper record keeping program. The adjusted litter weaning weight data generated in this program will be forwarded to Dr. Ken Andries at KY SU-Frankfurt who will then numerically rank individual doe and sire performances in declining order (indexing all the does/sires in the herd). Insofar as I know, no other Savanna breeders will match this evaluation program.

This procedure will allow not only judicious culling but, more importantly, will allow David to price his breeding stock offerings based on individual productive reality (their individual genetic value). I speculate that such figures will, in short order, encourage, if not force, other Savanna breeders to undertake similar performance-testing programs and bring more informed and thus more competitive pricing to the marketplace. (If so, I will have finally achieved one of my professional life’s objectives).

As David’s operation generates performance-tested breeding stock for sale in the next few years, I will be pleased to assist in his marketing endeavors by brokering sales of such animals via my Goat Rancher ads. I will also furnish technical management and marketing information to his prospective purchasers if/as needed. David will, of course, set prices and terms of purchase (escrow $$, payment of balance owed, pickup times, etc.). 

David will also do an auxiliary commercial meat goat unit featuring Savannah sires and does of other breeds. Currently, Savanna/Spanish and Savanna/Kiko crosses seem to be the most popular; however, Savanna/dairy crosses are said to be doing well on the west coast and northeastern states. Research data and on-farm experiences have shown Savanna sires to improve carcass grade, yield, and selling price/lb in such crossbreeding programs. Current Texas prices for SavannahX weanling doelings range $200-215/hd; further north and east, prices are somewhat higher, particularly so for small-lot offerings.

Dr. Frank Pinkerton

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