Our girls show and sell goats at our county fair. They've always bought their goats from a local breeder. The problem is that that same breeder's children also show goats raised at his farm. He, of course, holds the best goats for his own children.
We've decided that if our children are to ever win grand champion in goats, we'll have to buy from another breeder.
We went to the Michigan State University campus this weekend for "Vet-A-Visit". The students in the College of Veterinary Medicine host a program where they introduce children to some of the basics of veterinary medicine.DD1 is interested in becoming a veterinarian someday. It turns out that another goat breeder was having a sale not too far from the MSU campus on Saturday. We thought we would stop by.
I should preface this part of the story by stating that we pay about $125 - $130 for fair goats.
This guy had about 45 goats for sale. They were clearly a cut above in quality as compared to the local breeder. It turns out the were very much superior. The first goat sold for $500. It's typical that a breeder will sell their best animal first, so I thought - OK the best has been sold, things should level out now. #2, 3, 4 ,5 sold for about the same. Some goats brought as much as $625. Most in the middle sold for $200-$300. The cheapest goat sold for $135. We were so shell shocked that we didn't even put a bid
on it.
The final 4 or 5 goats were the poorest quality. But, and this makes for an interesting study in human behavior, there were enough parents that were hellbent on leaving with a goat, that those (relatively) poor quality goats went for $400 to $500 apiece. The average goat sold for $410.
Needles to say, we went home goatless. The local sale is in two more weeks. So, the girls will again buy a $125 - $130 goat. We may spend $150. We'll see.
Our Weekend Adventure
April 9th, 2013 at 12:04 pm
April 9th, 2013 at 12:09 pm 1365509398
April 9th, 2013 at 07:11 pm 1365534689
April 10th, 2013 at 02:13 am 1365559992
April 10th, 2013 at 12:38 pm 1365597523
snafu - All I can say is that there was a willing seller and a group of willing buyers brought together at a marketplace. When kids show animals at the fair, there are two "contests" - showmanship and the market class. During showmanship the judge places the children according to how they handle the animal, how they have prepared the animal for class, and how they answer the judges questions. So a child showing a poorer quality animal can win showmanship, and our girls have won their age division in showmanship. The market class is based solely on the quality of the animal. The "grand champion" status that everyone is working for is based on the results from the market class.
scfr - that's a good question. And, it kind of depends on the fair. This sale was in southern Michigan, so there were buyers there from Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. When the animals are sold at the fair, the grand champion almost always sells fro the most amount of money. Also, some of the very expensive animals are probably going to a state fair. A grand champion at a state fair may sell for several thousand dollars. Problem is - there is only one grand champion. Even if we had bought one of the $200 or $300 goats, we would have never made the money back with grand champion at our county fair. Maybe some county fairs, they could have. But my sense is that more parents were more interested in the title of grand champion than breaking even with the purchase.
April 10th, 2013 at 10:58 pm 1365634702
My last year I was busy as a Senior in HS and bought a pretty cheap lamb and placed the worst I had in all the years (bottom of group one) and I made the largest profit on that lamb.
I say if it's a breeding project than you want those Championship titles for sure. Otherwise it might be a draw....