Released August 4, 2009
SONORA, Texas -- The hint of rain in the air did little to awaken bidding at this year’s annual Sonora Angora Goat Performance Test sale on July 23.
At the sale’s conclusion, 13 head passed under the gavel for a total of $4,725 or an average of $363.46 per head. A like number did not sell through the ring due to the floor price of $300 per head not being met.
The test is an annual event held at the Texas AgriLife Research Station at Sonora. The field day and sale is a cooperative effort hosted by Angora goat producers, AgriLife Research and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.
This year’s top-selling animal, consigned by Bonnie and Dale Naumann of Medina, brought a winning bid of $700 from Sonora rancher Jimmy Holman.
The sale’s top-indexing buck, consigned by John Justice of Cerulean Farm, Harrah, Okla., sold to Allen Stieler of Rocksprings for $300. The buck produced a clean fleece weighing 11.1 pounds with a lock length of 6.80 inches. Its overall index score was 58.44.
“I’m afraid the results of this sale mirror our economic times,” said Dan Waldron, AgriLife Research geneticist at San Angelo and the test’s coordinator. “Mohair is a luxury item sold on a world market, and when economies sour here and elsewhere, so does the mohair market.
“But this has always been the history of the industry, and serious long-time breeders know this and adjust for the inevitable rise and fall that comes with being in the Angora goat business,” he said. “I suspect those who are left are in it for the long haul and are using this soft market to bolster their flocks with the comparatively cheap genetics which are now readily available.”
Waldron said this year’s sale prices were in sharp contrast to last year’s which saw a respectable $1,600 paid for the top-selling animal and a sale totaling $12,775.
Waldron said the test, now in its 29th year, is designed to help producers identify and develop better Angora goats. He said the sale is held at the request of the test cooperators. It affords them and others wanting to add superior genetics to their flocks a convenient way to do so at a central location using animals compared in the same way.
The test’s top 30 percent based on index value – not sifted for undesirable traits and meeting independent culling levels – were awarded certificates of performance by AgriLife Research, Waldron said.
He said the index ranked the bucks for overall merit and sale order.
For complete sale results and for more information on the Texas A&M Angora Goat Performance Test, go to: http://sanangelo.tamu.edu/genetics/angoratest.htm .
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http://agnews.tamu.edu/showstory.php?id=1345
Source: Dan Waldron, 325-653-4576, d-waldron@tamu.edu
