Goat Conference 2023 - News for goat farmers

Created: November 10, 2023
Last updated: December 1, 2023

Goat Conference 2023 - News for goat farmers

On November 10, 2023, the Institute for Livestock Research at the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein held the 11th specialist conference for goat farming . The event was held as a hybrid event, which many of the participants appreciated.

Goat conference 2023

The event was opened by Dr. Georg Terler (HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein, representing director Dr. Johann Gasteiner) and Dipl.-Ing. Roland Taferner (Austrian Federal Association for Sheep and Goats, representing chairwoman Dipl.-Ing. Evelyn Zarfl), who warmly welcomed the participants and the speakers. The first block of lectures was dedicated to the topic of efficiency and animal health in goat farming , which was led by Reinhard Huber from the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein.

The beginning was done by Dr. Margit Velik from the unfortunately ill Dr. Thomas Guggenberger, both from the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein, and she spoke about efficiency in goat farming. Afterwards, Dr. Georg Terler, also from our company, about the influence of feeding intensity on feed intake, milk yield and efficiency in goat milk production. Block one was concluded by Mag. Julia Gleissenberger from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. She presented results on the recultivation of alpine areas with goats and particularly addressed possible animal health risks when ingesting large quantities of bracken or worm fern.

The second block of the conference, with the chairman Dipl.-Ing. Roland Taferner from ÖBSZ was all about business administration and the marketing of goats . Dipl.-Ing. Christine Braunreiter from the Upper Austria Chamber of Agriculture presented the results of the business evaluations of AK dairy goat farms. Franz Haslehner from the Schlierbach organic cooperative in Upper Austria then devoted himself to marketing goat's milk. Sonja Trummer, a farmer from St. Anna am Aigen, and Josef Stöckl from the Upper Austrian Chamber of Agriculture introduced the participants to the marketing of goat meat, and in particular the “Goatober” project. The last program point of the second block was taken over by Hans Wallner and DIpl.-Ing. Adalbert Böker. They presented the Tauernschecken box and highlighted the special features of the Tauernschecken goat.

In the afternoon the focus was goat grazing , which also brought us to block three. The chairman of block three was Dr. Georg Terler, also representing Dr. Thomas Guggenberger. It started with Mag. Barbara Riegler, from BIO AUSTRIA, who explained the background to the grazing obligation for organic goats . Florian Horner from Schenkenfelden in Upper Austria spoke about the challenges of grazing goats by presenting test results from his practical business. Reinhard Huber from the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein explained to the conference visitors what proper herd protection must look like so that farm animals are protected from large predators such as wolves. The last lecture before the panel discussion was given by Dr. Leopold Podstatzky from the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein and Dr. Miguel Peña-Espinoza from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. They reported on the parasite problem in grazing goats and also explained possible solutions. At the end of this lecture, we moved on to the panel discussion, led by Dr. Georg Terler was directed. All participants had the opportunity to ask or express their open questions and suggestions.

Feedback from conference participants and the lively participation in the discussion of the presentations showed great interest in the conference. This hybrid event once again offered interested farmers, advisors, teachers and goat farming specialists a valuable further training opportunity.

All released results of the goat conference are summarized in the conference proceedings "11th Conference for Goat Conference 2023" and are freely available in the downloads under the images. After post-editing, we will also publish the Zoom recordings of the approved presentations here .