Burndoo Station Goat Depot

Rick and Joanne Gates, along with their son Ross, run one of the most successful commercial goat depots in western New South Wales, primarily dealing with rangeland goats.

Their operation handles approximately 150,000 goats annually, sourced mostly from local landholders in the Ivanhoe and Wilcannia areas of far west NSW. On average, the goats remain on the property for only 4 to 10 days before being moved to various markets.

The family is based at Burndoo Station (25,000 hectares) and also manages several other properties, including Slamanon Station (33,000 hectares), Woolahra (8,000 hectares in Ivanhoe), and Keelambara Station (24,000 hectares in Tilpa).

Average summer demand: 90.8 kWh/day
Average winter demand: 90.8 kWh/day
Demand surge: 20kW

• Selectronic SPMC481 Inverter Chargers (10kW)
• Powerplus ECO batteries (79.9kWh)
• Trina Solar panels (36kW)
• Victron SmartSolar Charge Controllers
• Fronius Primo Solar Inverter (6kW)
• Remote system monitoring + tablet display + modem router
• Ground-mounted solar array framing

Project Outcome:

The off-grid system is successfully powering the family home, as well as various workshops and other workers’ quarters that are utilised regularly.

To read more about the work that Rick, Joanne, and Ross are doing, check out the links below.

• https://www.nswfarmers.org.au/NSWFA/NSWFA/Posts/The_Farmer/Environment/Going_for_growth_with_goats.aspx
• https://www.mla.com.au/news-and-events/industry-news/shift-to-rangeland-goats-continues-to-reap-benefits/
• https://www.imags.com.au/published/Meat_Livestock_Australia/24/