Goat Gossip

Blown Away II

I'm just gonna rename all of the sales that the FCGBA has from now on to Blown Away, then the appropriate roman numeral, just like the Super Bowl and Wrestlemania.

We had a fair Spring Pen Sale, with folks that were looking to buy goats coming by and mostly finding what they wanted if they managed to tie an anchor around their waist to keep from getting blown away!! Once again the fickle finger of fate blessed us with weather conditions that only a polar bear could love what with 25-30 mph. winds and temperatures in the 40s. The day before on Friday, we had a light south breeze and temps in the high 70s. If you can recall, our Fall Sale was a week after Ike, so we didn't do so well then, either. I can't really say that it was poor planning, because we hold our sales pretty much the same time of year, we just can't get coordinated with Mom Nature to get it right!

Anyway, enough of this sniveling, crying, whiney "Why me?" stuff, on with the Thank Yous! First off, I would like to thank all of you who came to the sale, without your support we wouldn't be able to have the success that we are enjoying. Thanks to Ms. Jennie & Mr. John Blackwell and Ms. Charlotte Winkler and All of the Dynamic Crew of the Dew 4-H. The always put on a splendid snack bar.

Thank You to the Buffalo Press, Centerville News, Freestone Co. Times, Groesbeck Journal, Mexia Daily News, Navarro Co. Times, and Teague Chronicle for running our ads and press releases. Thank You to the East Texas Farm & Ranch News for being our area voice for the Goat Gossip, the Association appreciates your kind and steady support of the caprine industry through the years. Thank You to Mr. Gary Cu- trer and his wonderful staff at the Meat Goat Monthly for taking on the Goat Gossip and giving our Association a national voice in the goat industry. Last but not by any means least, I would like to thank Ms. Mary McDonald and the Goat Rancher for all the help that she gives the Association whenever we have a sale. Mr. Terry, you have a jewel in Ms. Mary!

Thank You to Incommons Bank for flashing our sale info on their fancy schmancy video bulletin board. That thing is a wonder to behold and the neatest thing since sliced bread! Thanks to Keith Smith at www.boergoats.com and Callene Zapalac at www. texasboergoatassociation. com for posting our sale info on the world wide webulation! Thank You to Ms. Jamie Filis and Mr. Nick Hoffman of the Agrilife Extension office for their help with the sale.

Folks, sometimes you can get help and assistance and COOPERATION from everybody and every animal involved with the sale. But if you don't get some effort from the goats you might as well not even waste your efforts, because if they don't breed then you have a great need. Goats! When I realized that our numbers of show wethers among our members wouldn't be what we needed for the sale I put out a blanket e-mail asking my fellow goat ranchers if they had any goats and would like to sell them at the sale. Ms. Jennifer Newton of Figbar Farm in Columbus, Kansas answered the call and dropped us off seven handsome wethers while on her way to a sale in Cameron, Texas. Ms. Jennifer didn't know Gwen or me from Adam but still trusted and provided us with the stock we needed to make the sale a success. Our Association would like to thank Ms. Jennifer and if you would like to also extend your thanks you can go to her web site at www.figbarfarms. com and shoot her an e-mail. Plus you can peruse her site and see what's going on in Kansas! THANK YOU Ms. Jennifer!

Now for the next big event! The FCGBA in cooperation with the Freestone Co. Agrilife Extension office will be having Forage, Feeding, & Goat Farmin' Instructional Program on Friday, April 3rd from 9:30 till 3ish. The program will be held at the Moody Reunion Fairgrounds in the Civic Center in Fairfield, Texas. Dr. Jim Muir, Forage Specialist- Texas A&M Stephenville Agriculture Extension Center, Dr. Frank Pinkerton Extension nutrition specialist, and Shane McLellan CEA-McLennan Co. will all be speaking at the program. Topics that will be covered include year-round feeding systems that provide proper nutrition for the entire herd, the economics behind raising goats, flexible marketing strategies, breeding goat selection, and routine observations and management demonstrations. A meal will be provided at the program, so we do ask that you reserve your seat by calling Texas AgriLife Extension Service Freestone County Office at 903-389-3436 before or on March 30, 2009. There will be a $15 fee charged for the program which will include a delicious lunch and various handouts. These fellows know a lot about goats and the nutrition they need to grow and show a profit for your operation. We will have some goats and equipment there to demonstrate various management practices so come on out and learn and have fun!

Don't forget about the two $500 scholarships that the FCGBA will award to two deserving high school graduates who own or have shown goats and are residents of Anderson, Freestone, Henderson, Leon, Limestone, and Navarro Cos. The Deadline is April 1st, so stop putting the application process off and go to www.freestonecountygoats. org to print out the criteria and applications. We really want to award these scholarships instead of leaving them in the bank so get a move on!!!

The ETGRA will be holding their General membership meeting on April 4th at the ETGRA Homesite between Jacksonville and Rusk. There will be an educational program, lunch, and the meeting, where new officers and board of directors will be placed. Go to www.etgra. com or call Brian Kinney at 903-721-3347 for more info. If you give Brian a call don't forget to thank him for the years of fine service that he has provided as President of the ETGRA. He has decided to step down and concentrate on improving his operation and has earned a well deserved respite from association business. Thanks a big, gigantical, whole bunch, Brian!!!

The ETGRA will be having its Broodstock Catalog Sale April 25th.

That's all I have for now. I hope you are getting some of this wonderful, life sustaining rain that Texas has been blessed with. Remember, with the wet weather also comes the parasites, especially after the warm winter we have had. Start doing your FAMACHA checks more frequently. If you don't know how to do it then take a few, random fecal samples to the vet and have them tested for parasite eggs and worm accordingly. I'm trying to track down a FAMACHA training program for area breeders and will let you all know what I find. If you hear of one then let me know so I can put it in the gossip. If you have any gossip then call 903- 388-8528 or e-mail clwyer@ gmail.com. Bye, for now.