Nice Article on TN Meat Goat Industry

[Ken Scharabok]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....WS01/701030431

[marvella]

thanks, ken. that's very helpful. we've just begun taking them to auction. the direct market idea is a good one....

[TNnative]

The little girl in the picture and her father who was interviewed are friends of ours. She and her brother show goats and did rather well this year. They have a beautiful place which is definitely suited to goats. I can hardly make it up the hills when we walk around the farm!

[Jcran]

Good article; boy the folks who responded to it(at end of online article) sure seem like knuckleheads. I wonder if they've ever even tasted goat meat...one used the article review space to rant about a completely different subject.

[Ken Scharabok]

"Good article; boy the folks who responded to it(at end of online article) sure seem like knuckleheads. I wonder if they've ever even tasted goat meat...one used the article review space to rant about a completely different subject."

Gee, sounds rather like General Chat.

[vancom]

We live in rural Williamson County south Nashville and it seems that everyone has meat goats "growing" in their backyard! Everywhere you look are a couple of acres (or less) fenced up with meat goats--and they are so cute. Kinda like small dogs, or so my kids say!

We raise dairy but this year, ANY male born is headed for the freezer! I've had goat once or twice, and I am looking forward to trying it again.

We've discussed clearing some more land and raising meat goats, but the local auction doesn't pay off well and direct marketing is tough. I do know that a TN organization (TGPA? or some other acronym) was trying to hire a fulltime marketer to set up a system of sales--involved regular pickup at a set fee and then delivery via contract to various large eat coast markets--need to see if they got that worked out.

Vanessa
near Nashville

[Jcran]

Mmmmmm, just finished a DElightful meatloaf of ground goatmeat/ground turkey breast...hopefully the rest of America realizes how yummy goat is and buys more of MINE! I've got em comin' out my ears!

[Ken Scharabok]

I've heard the old livestock sales barn in Thompson Station, TN holds two goat auctions a month - their only sales. I believe TS is somewhat SW of Nashville. Might bring better prices than sold at cattle dominated livestock sales barns.

[wardarden]

I heard about a month ago that the Thompson Station sale barn was closing. Has anybody heard anything about that?

[GoatsRus]

Thompson Station is the place to take your goats around middle TN. Do not, I repeat, do not take them to the Woodbury sale even though Woodbury boast more goats per county than anyone else. We made that mistake once. I asked them how much the boers were going for per # as TS listed the last sale at $1.05. We were told, "yep, that's the rate, and we sell for the same". Well, 57 cents a pound is not the same as $1.05. Here's the website for Thompson Station sales.

http://www.tennesseelivestockproduce...oat_sales.html

I haven't heard anything about them closing.

[Ken Scharabok]

Don't know. Thompson Station had been closed for cattle and such sales for a long time, but still held the occasional sale, such as sheep and goats. You might call the Dickson Livestock Center (615-446-9066) next Monday and ask one of the owners there.

[wardarden]

I went to the Woodbury sale once just to watch. I got so upset I had to leave. There were children (little boys) whipping on the goats in the sale ring to keep them moving and I could see how scared the poor goats were. When we went in the back to walk around in the barns I saw a guy draggins some goats out and then turned around walked back over to a goat standing there and kicked it in the ribs for no reason I could see. Are all sale barns that way? It really upset me, I am not a radical person but don't see why they should be abused. I've wanted to go to the Thompson Station sale to see if they are better.

[Jcran]

I think sale barns vary; we had a good one(always saw humane treatment) close to us that closed a number of years back. The one near where I went to college was icky (not a lot of kindness-some rather rough behavior towards animals). What I've heard overall on this forum tends to be that sales barns aren't the most lovely placees to take your animals.

[Ken Scharabok]

Well, you somewhat have to consider the nature of the business, which is an auction. They need to run the maximum number of animals through the ring in the shortest possible time. The one in Dickson, TN starts about 10 AM. Right now it is over in the late afternoon or early evening due to a limited number of stock going through it. However, I have seen in the past to where the sold past midnight. They really just don't have the luxury of trying to 'talk' an animal into going where they need it to, when they need it to.

However, I do agree I have witnessed some unneeded brutality there, often long into the auction when the sorters/movers are tired and just want it to be over.

[GoatsRus]

When we took the bucklings to Woodbury, we unloaded and left. I don't think I could bare to see my goats go through auction. I knew it wouldn't be a pleasant experience. Mind you, I know these are meat goats and that's what they are sold for, but you don't have to be rude about telling me how you're going to kill my "babies" and what they'll be cooked in.
As I was unloaded the bucklings, I was moving them along by saying, "come on sweetie" or "that's a good boy" etc.... The guy that was directing me where to take them said, " Hell, we should just slice their throats right here!". I ignored him so he said it again. Then he made some other rude comments and I just ignored him again. I know he was trying to get a reaction and I refused to comply.

[seanmn]

I've often wondered just where in the heck there all going....I've never heard of any slaughterhouses in the usa or canada that process large numbers of goats...