Supplementation made easy with free calculator

A goat producer’s ‘toolbox’ is never fully complete, with new support, research and resources becoming available every year – reflecting not only the diversity of industry, but the growing popularity of goatmeat globally.

For goats produced in and around the rangelands across various management systems, the Rangeland goat supplementation calculator tool supports proactive management of feed gaps that occur through browsing diets.

Developed by Dr Simon Quigley (Project Leader) and colleagues from The University of Queensland, with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), this spreadsheet calculator tool is available online and may be used in regions where environmental and seasonal factors impact the time required to reach production or market targets for rangeland goats.

By implementing managed feeding for rangeland goats, a producer can strategically address feed gaps to ensure goats reach production and market weight, resulting in more resilient goat enterprises.

Understanding when to supplement

Increasing seasonal volatility has reshaped the traditional feedbase for goats, leading producers to seek tools that help them manage emerging feed gaps. These tools support the optimisation of supplementation, ensuring animals are healthy and reaching market weight while maintaining enterprise profitability.

“Goats are a resilient species and can thrive on a browsing diet. However, where feed gaps become a concern is when producers are looking to meet production and marketing liveweight targets at certain times, they may consider supplementation,” Simon said.

“Natural disasters, extreme weather, or poor pasture growth can impact the food source of rangeland goat herds. At these times, producers may consider managed feeding systems, including the use of dietary supplements.

“A deficiency in essential nutrients can reduce growth rates and overall herd performance.”

Strategic liveweight management

Regardless of the production system, most goat processors mandate a minimum carcase weight of 10kg, meaning producers need their goats at a minimum of 24kg liveweight (lwt) to have a commercial value.

The supplementation calculator includes liveweight gain responses of goats to cereal, legume (such as lucerne), byproducts, protein, and commercial pellet supplements to support producers in making informed decisions about potential supplements for their herds.

“Price of supplement and impact on lwt gain are the two key drivers considered when looking to supplement a herd,” Simon said.

“The calculator allows producers to strategically hold or increase the weight of their herd, ensuring the best outcome for processing.”

Ground proof for weight data

The ability to accurately project liveweight gain or maintenance of goats fed different amounts of specific supplements is the true power of the supplementation calculator.

“Rather than assumption based responses of goats to supplementation, producers can enter the target weight of their goats and calculate how much supplement to feed to reach that target over a period of time,” Simon said.

“It breaks down to the potential weight gain/day/supplementation type and is capped at what we found to be the maximum weight gain within a series of 10-week feeding trials conducted with rangeland goat bucks less than 20kg lwt.

“This means a producer couldn't put in a target of 200g a day on one of the supplements if the maximum achievable gain for that supplement in our studies was only 80g/day.

“Our research and the functionality of the calculator provide a reality check on what is achievable through supplementation, grounding potential decision making for producers in hard facts.”  

Access the calculator today

The Rangeland goat supplementation calculator project was completed in 2021, capturing potential supplementation inputs across a range of goat species over 10-week periods.

Outcomes of the project, as well as educational webinars including a ‘How-To’ and demonstration of the relevance and application of the calculator, are available on the MLA website.

To access the free calculator and review potential supplementation methods for your rangeland goats, visit the tool landing page.