Brands, services, platforms and people
Try It by Career Calling

Goat Farmer

ManagersUsually a bachelor degree or higher, or long experience

What the work is

Plans, organises, controls, coordinates and performs farming operations to breed and raise goats for fibre, milk, meat and breeding stock.

Would you enjoy the work?

These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.

  • Plans and coordinates the breeding and raising of goats for fibre, milk, meat and breeding stock
  • Organises goat farming operations and routines, such as feeding, watering, herding, milking, shearing, and administration of vaccinations and medications
  • Selects and purchases breeding stock and manages goat breeding programs
  • Monitors and maintains the health, welfare and condition of goats, including by developing and overseeing strategies to manage biosecurity and other risks
  • Directs and oversees general goat farming activities, including the provision and maintenance of infrastructure such as pens, fences, sheds and water supply systems
  • Organises the sale, purchase and transportation of goats for meat and breeding purposes, and the sale of goat fibre or milk
  • Maintains and evaluates records of goat farming activities, monitors market activity, and plans production accordingly
  • Manages goat farm business capital, including budgeting, taxation, debt and loan management
  • May select, train and supervise goat farm staff and contractors

Try it

A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a fictional commercial beekeeping business moving hives between orchards and bushland at night. They are fictional.

The kind of days you could have

Good days

  • You lift a lid at dawn and the hive is calm, full of honey and buzzing
  • An almond grower thanks you after a heavy crop that your bees pollinated
  • A honey harvest day where the smell in the shed is unbelievable

Hard days

  • Moving hives in the dark, in the cold, then waking at dawn to do it again
  • A dry season with little flowering and hives that are hungry
  • Stings through the veil on a hot day, with a long drive still ahead

Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.

Work a mission

Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.

Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 152932, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.