Gage Loveland is a young entrepreneur whose surprising passion for goats has grown into a blossoming business. The most impressive part? He is a 15-year-old sophomore in high school.
Gage is the owner and manager of Legendary Uintah Boer Goats where he raises and manages his herd certified by the American Boer Goat Association. Starting and managing an agricultural business from nothing is a feat for any entrepreneur. The fact that Gage is so young and so determined makes his story all the more impressive.
Easy Peasy: The Oklahoma Boer Goat
How would you react if an Oklahoma auction you didn’t even register for called requesting a credit card to complete your purchase of an ABGA-certified doe Goat? If you’re Kyle Loveland, you tell the auction to call your wife.
Shelley Loveland got the call shortly after Kyle that her son, Gage, had won an online bid for a doe Boer goat at the Labor Day Classic Auction in Oklahoma. “We had no idea he was even bidding,” Shelley says.
Determined to improve his herd genetics, Gage began seeking out help and advice from goat breeders that he admired. This is how he found and began communicating with Kelsey Anderson with AK Livestock and Companies. Anderson told Gage about the upcoming online auction featuring the top ABGA goat breeders in the entire United States.
“These breeders bring the best of the best to get their name out there,” Gage says. “I knew I was going to find a good goat.”
Sale day rolled around and Gage signed into the online auction site. He kept his eyes peeled for goats with the genetics he needed to improve his herd and when Easy Peasy strolled into the ring Gage started bidding.
Going once, going twice, sold! The auctioneer's call confirmed it. Gage had the winning bid on the goat of his dreams, but there was one thing he wasn’t anticipating. “My parents got a call,” Gage says.
His parents were “kind of mad,” Gage says, but he already had a plan. He reached out to Anderson who owned the powerhouse goat he had just purchased and arranged for her to bring Easy Peasy back to Utah. Gage met Anderson just 15 minutes down the road, paid her in cash, and brought his new doe home.
“Easy is what I want my herd to look like,” Gage says. “She's a really well-built doe and even won the Utah State Fair before.”
Purchasing Easy came with another bonus. The champion doe was already bred to an ABGA buck when Gage purchased her. Easy’s offspring, Money, is “everything Easy isn't” according to Gage. Money inherited the aspects of her mother that he had hoped for but also had traits from her father that would help improve Gage’s herd.
Despite his parents' concern, Gage’s leap into purchasing Easy Peasy has him excited for his future as a Boer goat breeder. “I got Easy to improve my genetics, but I also got an improved version so she's definitely gonna help me get some better kids,” Gage says. He hopes that Easy will produce more offspring with her quality genetics that he can keep to continue producing better stock.
Building the Herd: From Two to Seventeen
Before Easy Peasy there was Rhonda. On his tenth birthday, Gage was leading a group of visiting family members to an outside barn on the Loveland’s property. Once in the barn, the family members started pointing to a usually vacant stall and asked Gage, “What's in that stall?” Gage, used to the stall being empty, told them, “There's nothing in there.” But the family members insisted and so Gage decided to investigate.
“Then I saw my two goats,” Gage says. “I thought it wasn't real, but my parents got me two doe goats, and I was really surprised.”
Gage’s fascination with goats began when he saw a neighbor’s young pet goats, but his parents weren’t sure about adding another animal to the farm.
“I was dead set against having goats at our place,” Kyle says. “I just didn't want an extra chore and I didn't want everything that goats bring with them; the noise and the better fences that are required to keep goats in.”
This didn’t hinder Gage’s fascination. He began researching goat breeds and learning everything he could about raising and caring for them. Finally, after begging his parents for a goat of his own for a couple of years, they caved.
“I finally decided this would be fun for him,” Shelley says. “We have horses and cattle and we were doing hogs for 4-H, but goats were one thing that I knew nothing about so it was a little bit scary.”
Rhonda was one of Gage’s first two goats, but he didn’t want his goats to just be pets. Gage continued researching to understand genetics while growing his herd so that he could start breeding and selling his own goats.
“Gage just kept learning and started showing so much passion,” Kyle says. “Here we are, 17 goats later.”
Today, Gage’s goal is to raise quality doe goats for breeding and wether goats for showing that he can sell to local kids going to fairs. He runs and manages his herd and his business personally and he wants to continue improving the quality of his stock through better genetics.
Getting Down to Business
Gage’s goats are more than pets, they are his business. Like any business, Legendary Uintah Boer Goats relies on the profits and margins that Gage can generate through his sales.
Each year Gage sells goats to local youth interested in showing at local fairs. He is eager to enhance his stock so that he can sell a quality goat to his buyers, but also so he can open the door of selling to more breeders.
“You have to make a profit, that has always been my bottom line,” Gage says. “I can't just do this to have fun.”
When Gage purchases a new goat he looks at how many kids he’ll need her to produce to pay for the purchase and associated expenses with feed and shows. As he continues to improve his genetics, he can charge a premium for his goats and increase their marketability.
“The rule is to sell two to buy one,” Gage says. “If I buy a doe, I have to sell two goats.”
As an entrepreneur, Gage is learning good budgeting skills and how to keep track of his business expenses, revenue, and profits. He says this is a very important lesson and that it has taught him to prioritize what purchases to make in his business.
Proper Goat Nutrition: IFA Platinum Show Feed
With so much time and research into genetics, making sure his goats are reaching their full genetic potential is extremely important to Gage. He has many different rations for his goats depending on the point in production they are in.
His goats always have access to minerals and quality forage, but when his goats are getting ready for breeding or kidding, he will adjust his rations to provide the extra nutrient boost that they need. He also likes to supplement his goats with an Elanco product called Rumensin that helps his goats maintain a healthier gut, fend off diseases, and improve feed efficiency.
When Gage is getting goats ready for shows, he provides those same forages, minerals, and supplements, but he also likes to feed IFA’s Platinum Express Goat feed. Helping his goats gain muscle and gain weight is a primary goal and Gage believes that feeding the Show Power feed helps his goats stay on track with their nutrition.
“IFA Show feed is a feed that helps fill in the gaps of what my goats need nutritionally,” Gage says.
IFA Young Producers Program Benefits
IFA is proud to support Gage as a member of the cooperative’s Young Producer program. As a member, he receives a 10% discount on feed purchases related to his goat herd and has access to IFA expert resources for help with animal health and nutrition-related questions.
Feed Discounts
As an entrepreneur, Gage has come to realize the impact of feed costs on his profits. Gage purchases mineral tubs, grains, and show feed to help with his goats’ nutrition, especially during breeding and showing season.
“Being part of IFA Young Producers is awesome,” Gage says. “I don't have to pay as much for feed and supplements and I can invest more into my animals because of that.”
IFA’s Young Producer Program is intended to help agricultural entrepreneurs like Gage as well as youth involved in 4-H, FFA, and other youth clubs and associations. Any intermountain youth with an animal project can qualify for special IFA discounts on feed by signing up.
Education Resources
Besides feed discounts, Gage’s membership in the IFA Young Producer Program gives him access to IFA expert resources. Each year, IFA provides learning opportunities for youth in the form of livestock show clinics and seminars.
“Being a part of the Young Producer program has helped Gage with budget, but it has also helped with education,” Kyle says. “IFA has done a fantastic job at providing the education and the resources to help develop young producers and teach them to maximize the genetic potential of their animals with proper nutrition.”
Gage has attended IFA’s annual Livestock Show Clinic in the past where he’s learned from Weaver ProStaff Clinicians about fitting goats for shows. He says that learning about show products and how to use them helps him better showcase the desired traits of his animals inside the show ring.
Not only has Gage attended the annual clinic as a spectator, but he also helped with the 2024 spring clinic by bringing his goats Easy Peasy and Money to act as models for the clinicians to demonstrate proper washing and clipping techniques.
Kyle believes that these learning opportunities and having access to knowledgeable IFA experts have played a role in Gage’s journey
“IFA has an army of nutritionists, formulators, and buyers with a wealth of knowledge,” Kyle says. “They do a fantastic job and then having all those resources very accessible to the public is really helpful.”
Lessons Learned and More to Come
Gage says that breeding goats has taught him many valuable lessons including good people skills. “In order to have a successful business, you're going to have to talk to people,” Gage says.
Gage has learned to communicate with other goat breeds, buyers, animal nutrition experts, and veterinarians. Kyle says that Gage will be in contact with a buyer or a breeder and many times they won’t even realize they are communicating with a teenager until they meet in person.
“Since Gage was 10 years old we've made him communicate with all the grownups,” Kyle says. “Whether he's looking to potentially grow the herd or sell a goat it’s up to him to communicate with those people."
His goat herd has also taught him hard work. Gage spends many early mornings and late nights feeding, working with his goats for shows, and helping the does during kidding season, but it’s work he loves to do. Kyle says he can count maybe five times he has taken care of Gage’s goats in the past several years.
“Gage is 100% invested in the goats,” Kyle says. “He does everything from start to finish.”
IFA is proud to support Gage as he grows his business. We love seeing his passion and will continue to provide the products and knowledge that Gage needs as the founder and manager of Legendary Uintah Boer Goats.
Up Next: The Cream of the Crop: A Look Inside Utah's Cream Pitcher Dairy >
Written by Mikyla Bagley, IFA Content Writer, and originally published in the IFA Cooperator magazine (vol. 90, no. 4) Winter 2024.
Mikyla Bagley is a fifth-generation rancher actively involved in her family’s cattle operation. She holds a deep respect for the wisdom and management practices of the farmers and ranchers who have crossed her path, both because of her family operation and otherwise. A deep desire to remain connected to the agriculture industry drove Mikyla to earn her BIS in Agriculture Science and Communication from Southern Utah University. She continues to be involved in her family’s operation while using her degree and life-long experience as IFA’s Content Specialist sharing the experiences and wisdom of IFA experts and Co-op Members.
“The agriculture community is filled with genuine and hard-working men and women whose passion for their lifestyle deserves to be shared. I look forward to helping highlight both their stories and expertise alongside IFA.”
—Mikyla Bagley