Annette Maze’s southern drawl rolls over the crowd and competitors as smooth as butter.
It even seems to calm the goats standing before her as she gently teases that they thought they were going to Wal-Mart, not into the show ring.
Maze is from Spicewood, Texas, and spent part of last month in Regina judging the goat shows at Canadian Western Agribition.
“They’re outstanding,” she said after judging the dairy goat entries from the three prairie provinces.
She has judged in Alberta and in Toronto but never at Agribition. She laughs as she talks about purchasing long underwear in anticipation of cold weather that never quite materialized early in the week when the goat events were on.
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Maze has judged for years and used to run a 600 head goat dairy.
“I got tired of milking goats twice a day.”
But once she saw Boer goats she was hooked and now raises about 125 head.
“The South African Boer goat is the most exciting, profitable animal to be imported into the U.S. in the last 40 years,” she said. “They’re easy to raise, easy to kid. They’re valuable. And the meat is twice as good as the Spanish goat.”
She said the Spanish market is realizing this as well and is looking to Boer goats that produce meat as good as the best cut of prime rib.
Maze said if you look at a Boer goat from the back end and its head is down you might think you’re looking at a pig and its “big ole butt.”
Boer goat meat contains 80 percent less cholesterol than white chicken meat, she said, and is changing the way Americans look at goat meat.
She said potential buyers can’t get great goats at American auctions because they all sell privately. She made five times more money the second year she had her Boer goats than she would have with the dairy ones.
In the Agribition all breeds dairy show, Maze selected GCH EIEI YEO Lollipop, exhibited by San-To Acres and Triple C Farms of Sifton, Man., as grand champion doe.
The grand champion alpine dairy doe was Trilyte Neon, exhibited by Kerry O’Donnell of Calder, Sask.
O’Donnell also exhibited the grand champion Boer goat percentage doe, KG Nakiska 148N, and the grand champion purebred doe, KG Nepal 140N.
The grand champion purebred Boer buck was Central Alberta Roark, from Central Alberta Boer in Ponoka, Alta.
In the Boer goat sale, Twelve Acre Sydney 2S, consigned by Twelve Acre Ranch of Regina was the high seller. The purebred buck sold to Tineille Clark of Shellbrook, Sask., for $1,700.
A total of 18 lots sold for $7,665.
