The Goats That Rock

A Limpopo farmer swears by giving his goats a little background boeremusiek at milking time in return for tip-top cheese.

- Gerhard Uys

‘As saaaawens die liggies so glinsterrrrrr, dan glo jy daar’s liefde naaaaabyyyy’ (When the light glows at night, you believe love is close by) sung by Gert van Tonder and Sias Reinecke echoes off the walls of the milking parlour.

A string of bearded goats trots in to the music, as if in practised march, and makes its way up the stairs. As one they turn, take a step forward, lower their heads and contentedly munch as milking begins. The goats belong to Christo Venter of Geluksfontein Goat Cheese Farm near Vaalwater in the Waterberg, who swears that classic boeremusiek is the weapon in his arsenal that assures Grade-A milk production.

“Music relaxes them. Research has shown it so,” says Christo. “When factors such as day temperature and feed remain the same, the goats’ milk production is good. Play them some boeremusiek with this same temperature and feed and they just produce more.”

But beyond jiving on lekker tunes during a milking session, goats are interesting enough animals that sure are tough to farm. “I must have been mad,” Christo says with a chuckle, when asked why he started farming with goats.

Anyone who knows goats knows why he feels this way. They’re super-intelligent, inquisitive, and love exploring so much that farmers say if you want to have goats on your farm, you’ll have to set them free on your neighbour’s farm. It’ll only be a matter of time before these fence-jumping, fence-crawling escape artists end up back on your property.