Welcome to the updated Sugarfield Farms' Website

Sugarfield Farms is a growing operation just over an hour southwest of Toronto, near the town of Tavistock, Ontario. Our farm will typically have between 300-500 head of goats, with kids born throughout the year.

Our primary focus is breeding purebred South African Boers, but we have recently began breeding purebred Nubians as well, keeping 30-40 head of that breed. We also keep a handful of other dairy breeds as a hobby and to show.

Our interest is primarily in raising meat goats for breeding purposes and to produce a superior type market kid. Tobin began with goats in 1996 when he purchased the first 7 half Boer/Nubian crosses and the operation has grown from there. Erin and Tobin began farming full time in the spring of 2007 with the purchase of a 106 acre property, a farm that has been in the Schlegel family now for 6 generations. Most recently we have added a new barn, a 50 x 140 coverall structure to compliment our other facilities, a 30 x 80 coverall and an old 2 storey broiler barn.

Tobin farms full time and is a licensed judge with the Canadian Meat Goat Association (www.canadianmeatgoat.com), and also serves as the Vice-president of the Ontario Goat Breeder’s Association (www.ogba.ca). Erin is a supply teacher with the Thames Valley School Board and also actively farms in addition to serving on the board of the Canadian Meat Goat Association.

Breeding Objectives:

Our primary goal is to breed animals that will serve as commercial brood-stock. To fill this market we have been selecting our animals for superior type and breed character, increased production capacity (growth and muscling), increased reproductive performance and reduced maintenance needs. Emphasis has been placed on animals with solid feet and legs, a reduced need for hoof trimming (we are aiming for once per year), animals with superior milk production (high weaning weights), a mammary type promoting longevity (and longevity as a trait in general!), superior post-weaning growth, and overall, animals that will produce desirable kids to market that will create a return on investment.

To put it simply we want our animals to do everything. We prefer lines with a history of twins or triplets as we have learned from experience that these are consistently sustainable numbers. It is critical that the animals are able to support the number of kids they produce. We breed on an accelerated program, targeting an 8-9 month breeding cycle, 5 month gestation, ~2 months rearing kids, 1 month “rest”, targeting the second cycle after weaning to rebreed.

As breeders we are looking to see improvement with each successive generation. We have specific, quantifiable goals for our whole herd and are making progress towards them. We are committed to maintaining a consistently high level of quality in our herd, and in the animals that we sell.

Tobin and Erin Schlegel