World-class mohair producer adds value with clean clip practices

Michau Nortjé is not new to Angora farming. His father began farming Angoras more than half a century ago, and the family has been breeding purpose-suited Angoras for their farm near Willowmore in the Eastern Cape for as long as he can remember. Improvements in his management practices and selection over the last five years, however, have seen Nortjé enter the ranks as one of the top mohair producers in the world.

- Sabrina Dean reports.

THE RIGHT GOAT

The Angoras that Nortjé are running have been under development on the family farm for decades. He says his father had first introduced the goats as far back as the 1960s, as well as running a registered stud.

“I remember my father buying a stud Angora for R1 400 in about 1967,” he reflects.

In the early 1990s, his father developed Alzheimer’s and the stud component was not maintained.

However, they continued breeding and producing mohair, with Michau gradually taking over. The goats he runs today are a bigger, tougher type of Angora, capable of performing extensively in the tough Willowmore region.

He says although there has been a sacrifice in terms of micron quality, the type has other benefits that suit his farm and his system better. This does, however, mean he needs numbers to produce sufficient hair to make a bale.

“You would be amazed at how many kids you need to get enough classed hair to make an 80kg bale,” he says.

The quality and value of a mohair clip is determined by a classification system that grades hair according to both the fineness of the fibre and the age of the goat. The younger the goat, the finer the fibre, with the fleece becoming coarser as the goat matures.

Industry classifies mohair into three standards, namely kid mohair, young goat mohair, and adult mohair, which is further separated into fine adult/strong adult.

Kid mohair is sheared from goats under 12 months of age, with a micron range of 24 to 30 microns. It is in this standard that Nortjé has had great success over the past five years, with one of his 25-micron bales sold for a new record price this year.

The production of superior-quality kid mohair forms the core of his operation, which therefore relies on an annual lambing percentage of over 100%.

EXTENSIVE OPERATION WITH INTENSIVE FOCUS