I, Farm Boy! Goats With ‘Birth Certificates’ To Boost Dairy Goat Industry

When we were young boys growing up in the farm, our grandfather taught us his secrets in selecting the best working Carabaos.

He based his selection on the location of the animal’s licks or “alimpuros” in our dialect and “puyo” in Tagalog.

A pair of licks on the shoulders marked a very strong Carabao, licks in the feet indicated speed and a lick in the forehead meant a vicious animal.

How Lolo was able to determine the animal’s qualities through the licks is still a mystery to me until today.

Today, modern science offers a more accurate method of determining the performance of animals.

Through the wonders of Genetics, good performing animals, be it competition K9s, racehorses, Cattle, Meat Goats and Dairy Goats could easily be identified through their pedigree records.

Gamefowl breeders also keep records of their fowls’ genetics and select the breeders based on their winning records.

The gamefowl breeders’ record book, however, is kept a secret because of the stiff competition.

In the US, most outstanding goats are registered with the American Dairy Goat Association or adga.org.

ADGA conducts periodic tests on milk production of registered goats including the fat and butter content.

Through these tests, ADGA determines the Top Performers among all dairy breeds.

So, every goat has a virtual “birth certificate” which would show his or her ancestors.

The goats are either ear-tagged or inserted with microchips for easy identification.

The performance of the parents and ancestors would indicate the expected performance of the offsprings.

This was one of my advocacies when I was Secretary of Agriculture.

I invited the prominent dairy goat breeders in the country and strengthened the FGASPAPI hoping to turn it into a registry body for goat genetics.

It is now headed by Dr. Rufo Llorin, Jr., a medical doctor who is a foremost advocate for the use of goat’s milk.

Even after I left the DA, the group continued its advocacy to modernize the Philippine Dairy Goat Industry.

As a farmer, I am also continuing the advocacy in Mindanao.

A friend recently acquired 120 heads of dairy goats from outstanding lines which he asked me to breed in a multiplier farm.

Together, we brought in from Oregon, USA LaMancha and Anglo Nubian breeds which are out of proven milking lines in the US.

All of these are either registered or to be registered with ADGA which would make it easy for us to select the best performers.

#FarmingIsCommonSense!

#KungGustoMaramingParaan!

(Photos show some of the Anglo Nubians and LaManchas we have in the farm.)