“Mum and Dad are getting older so it was about trying to work out the farm succession, but how do you do it?” daughter Jo Alcock said.
The family started considering options that would keep the farm intact and allow John and Pam to continue farming and living on the property, 15km south of Te Kuiti, as long as they wished.
Dairy goats would not have a big impact on farm policy so the family could continue breeding and finishing lambs, growing out dairy heifers and finishing a few beef steers.
They visited some goat milking operations to get a feel for the business, but first had to be accepted by the Waikato-based Dairy Goat Co-operative (DGC) where they wanted to supply milk, to be sure they would have an outlet for their product if it went ahead.
Jo said the co-operative also made goat milking a more attractive option because it had good systems in place, a strong marketing arm and, based in Hamilton, is just over an hour’s drive from the farm.
Jo Alcock says goats require similar care to sheep.
