Young gun’s business success

A passion for goats at a young age has led 16-year-old Bradley Irvine to become an award-winning Boer goat business owner.

Bradley runs Belle Ridge Goats, a 375-head Boer goat enterprise based on 98ha at Acheron in Victoria. 

A passionate young producer, Bradley overcame the challenges of dyslexia and found his life purpose by becoming a budding goat farmer and established Belle Ridge Goats with only three goats in 2015. 

He has been recognised locally and nationally by various business bodies for his success, being awarded the ‘Murrindindi Young Business Person of the Year’ award in 2019.  

He is also regularly attends the Royal Melbourne Show with his goats to help promote youth in agriculture. 

Bradley says he chose a career in goats because they are much more engaging animals compared to sheep and he really enjoys their temperament. 

“All goats are different characters with their own personalities,” Bradley said. 

“Goats are great for weed control because they are a true browser animal. 

“Our land was covered in bracken, blackberries and other weeds which was a fire risk and a haven for snakes, foxes, rabbits and deer. 

“The goats have slowly eaten all of this down and helped turn it into productive pastures which the goats now graze on.” 

Bradley built up his experience with goats by spending time with friends who owned goats. 

“I did a lot of research on goat breeds, infrastructure and management before I bought any goats of my own,” he said. 

“I started the business off small and slowly learnt how to manage goats ourselves.” 

Belle Ridge Goats prides itself on authentic, integrated practices when it comes to managing goats which reflect their attitude of paddock to plate. 

Bradley begins by selecting goats with width in their shoulders, a quiet temperament and two teats. 

“It is important we select for two fully functional teats to ensure smaller, weaker kids have the best chance at receiving the milk they need to survive,” he said. 

“We also focus on selecting for temperament, so the goats are easy to handle and pleasant to work with.” 

Bradley sources replacements for Belle Ridge through stud breeders and says it is important to ensure they are coming from a good bloodline and background. 

“I always ask lots of questions when I am purchasing new goats to ensure they have good genetics and they are coming from a good stud breeder,” he said. 

Belle Ridge Goats manages biosecurity on-farm by inspecting new animals before they come onto the property and keeping them in quarantine for two weeks before introducing them into the herd. 

They also make sure their biosecurity plan is up to date, use biosecurity signs on their entrance gates and record visitor movements where possible. 

“Goats are very susceptible to parasites and can go downhill really quickly when they are unwell,” Bradley said. 

“Bought-in goats receive the same drenches and vaccinations as existing goats on our property. We keep track of this through detailed record-keeping of all treatments. 

“We use Glanvac 6S with veterinary guidance which provides extra protection against cheesy gland. 

“We also do our own faecal testing to determine which parasites to target with our drenching regime.”  

Issues such as foot scald are common in Acheron due to the wet weather, particularly when a season break occurs. 

“We trim feet twice a year to keep on top of any foot scald issues before they happen,” Bradley said. 

“We also use a 10 per cent formalin solution to help dry their feet out.” 

Bradley says handling or moving goats on their property is very easy due to both the temperament of the goats and the layout of their yards. 

“The flow of the yards is really important to reduce manual labour, so we have four laneways which lead down to the yards to make movement and handling really easy,” he said. 

“We also use a crush designed for sheep and goats when handling our goats.  

“Boer goats are also hard on fences, so we use hinge lock fences with a barb wire on the top and bottom.” 

Belle Ridge aim to join their maiden does at no less than 12 months of age and about 22 to 25-kilograms. 

They have traditionally aimed for an autumn drop each year. However, in 2021 they tried a spring drop for the first time to provide the does with some more time to increase their condition score before joining again. 

“Usually, our maiden does only have singles,” Bradley said 

“However, the spring drop was successful with all of our maidens having singles or twins.  

“We also had seven sets of triplets this year from seasoned does.” 

Nutrition is also important to the success of Belle Ridge Goats as they aim for consistent and premium quality goat meat. 

Bradley with the help of his parents, formulate the diets for their goats themselves and include local by-products to provide some variety. 

“The goats graze predominantly on Phalaris and ryegrass as well as some strawberry clover when it grows through,” Bradley said. 

“Dobson Potatoes is a farm located near us, so we purchase their second-grade potatoes and feed those out during winter which ferment in their stomach and help to keep them warm. 

“They also have unlimited access to hay and are provided molasses-based salt and mineral licks to ensure they are receiving all the nutrients they need.” 

Wethers are fed calf-rearer pellets which contain high levels of protein to maximise muscle growth in the lead-up to slaughter. 

“Our target weight for market is 50 kilograms liveweight or 28 kilograms dressed,” Bradley said. 

“We previously grew the goats out to 30 kilograms liveweight. However, during processing the carcasses were damaged when they were being skinned due to the lack of fat coverage. 

“Now our goats have great fat coverage and begin to develop marbling at about 45 kilograms liveweight.” 

Belle Ridge Goats currently supplies premium goat meat to local butchers, restaurants, pubs and delis in and around Alexandra in Victoria. 

Next year, Belle Ridge Goats will be focused on refining their current herd. 

“We recently purchased more registered Boer bucks and we are aiming to increase the width in the shoulders of our entire herd to help increase carcass size,” Bradley said. 

One of Bradley’s top tips for new producers starting out in the goat industry is to build up relationships with other local goat producers in the area. 

“We regularly visit other goat farms or speak to others in the area to keep on top of what issues other goat producers are experiencing,” Bradley said. 

“Using this knowledge, we are able to learn from other people’s experiences and implement strategies before we have the same issues.”