A pilot study was conducted to investigate the possibility of using goats to manipulate the amount and composition of indigenous and improved vegetation on hill land in the west of Scotland.

Two vegetationally similar plots, each of approximately 0·6 ha, were used. Approximately 0·45 of each plot comprised sown ryegrass-clover pasture, the remainder being indigenous vegetation (principally Calluna vulgaris, Eriophorum and Tricophorum spp. with some Deschampsia, Molinia and Carex spp.). One plot was stocked with 14 yearling Anglo-Nubian goats and the other with seven mature Blackface sheep, the total weight of livestock on the two plots being the same (500 kg).

On the reseeded areas the proportions (± s.e. of difference) of ryegrass grazed by sheep and goats after 2, 5 and 8 weeks were 0·65 and 0·11 (0·075), 0·68 and 0·42 (0·112), and 0·77 and 0·58 (0·149), respectively; corresponding values for proportional clover cover were 016 and 0·45 (0·071), 0·16 and 0·38 (0·070), and 0·10 and 0·35 (0·070), respectively. The goats also actively grazed clumps of Juncus spp. and invading indigenous species which were not eaten by sheep.

On the indigenous areas the sheep grazed a higher proportion of Calluna than did goats (0·08 and 0·05) but grazed less E. vaginatum (0·07 and 0·13), E. angustifolium (0·04 and 0·11), and other indigenous species (0·21 and 0·36), respectively. The degree of utilization of grazed indigenous species by goats was also greater than that by sheep for all species except Calluna.

The results suggest that goats may have a use in some sheep production systems as an aid to the management of the varied plant communities of hill land, and particularly in the maintenance and further improvement of reseeded pastures.

Down production of 93 feral, F1 and F2 cashmere-producing goats run in Victoria was investigated. The goats were visually assessed for down production and shorn. Their fleeces were evaluated for total fibre, down yield, fibre diameter, grease and moisture content. Analyses on down yield and fleece characteristics indicated that they compared favourably with those of traditional cashmere-producing countries. Mean down production ranged from 330 g for males to 148 g for females. Sampling at three body sites was accurate in determining total fleece measures and visual assessment proved a reliable screening technique for on-farm selection. Large variation was found in down production indicating the possibility of rapid genetic gain through selection.

ANIMAL PRODUCTION, Volume 34, Part 3, p. xiv