Robur Dairy Farm is welcoming new additions at Sassafras

The first kid goat deliveries arrived earlier this week and they are in great condition at very healthy weights up to 5.6kg.

Tasmanian Food Co chief executive Jane Bennett said this was the second year of goat kids since Robur came under the TasFoods umbrella, and all was on track for developing the state’s largest and best bred dairy goat herd.

Mr Lolkema has recently returned from a trip to his native Holland to investigate best practice goat farming and breeding.

He organised the herd of around 350 into five kidding groups, which means they will give birth every month between now and December.

“There’s a huge amount of work to prepare goats to be pregnant. Leon has to scan goats for phantom pregnancies and then get them to a state where they can kid,” Ms Bennett said.

Industry visitors are impressed by what they see when they go to the Sassafras property, with Mr Lolkema’s management ensuring Robur Dairy Farm has grown beyond expectations for the first year, she said.

“What we’ve been able to achieve is key to a successful goat dairy, which is the same as a successful cow dairy farm: fertility, feed and quality of milk production,” Ms Bennett said.

“[Leon’s] got these big, healthy goats. The North-West coast has great conditions. The quality of their milk is outstanding and it doesn’t taste goaty,” she said.

Robur Dairy Farm intends to set the standard for dairy goat farming in Tasmania.

“It’s following the philosophy of producing products that are of the highest quality. It’s important to set that standard for products coming in,” Ms Bennett said.

“We need to develop the standard of care and management that we expect for goats coming into the business. By setting that standard we can show contract growers and train them to meet those standards.

“We’re really excited with how far our goat business has come in 12 months,” she said.

The new Robur Dairy Farm dairy parlour will be operating by October, by which time most of the kid goats will be born, and TasFoods expects to host tours of the property similar to the free-range chicken field days it held at Nichols Farm in March.

Robur Dairy Farm produces goat’s milk, a range of soft chevre cheeses, goat fetta, goat cheddar called capredda, and there is a Normandy-style camembert cheese also in the works for launch later this year.