What is a good percentage for running goats on shares?
Operator would take the goats for the summer grazing season and use them for weed control, owner won't have any involvement other than owning the goats.
There is no standard share since usually the owners are also the operators or goat herders. Around here contract goat weed and brush control is all in the same family. Their kids (human kids) do all the goat oversight, vet care, moving the electric fences, managing the dogs, and transporting the goats and camping on site, all summer. They love it because they are on their own, camping out, and they get a lot of attention and always someone taking photos of them, posing with their goats and dogs.
It is usually either a city or county area along the river that needs control. Those contracts are tax payers money so those contracts are very generous, since the ones doling it out aren't footing the cost.
Price is $1000 a mile with the area about 100 feet either side of the river, temporary electric fenced. 100 goats can do 15 miles each side or 30 miles total in 90 days. An operator is on site 24/7.
So, if the owner is furnishing all weaned weathers and does that will be headed to the meat market in the fall, then that owner is looking at free feed for the summer. If the operator pays all vet bills, transportation, furnishes all labor, mineral, and takes responsibility for any losses at agreed price, then their cut might be 100%, since the owner is getting free feed and care. This depending that the operator return fattened healthy goats, ready for market.
Such an operation is going to take at least two operators , with one there all the time. Usually two trained dogs are involved. So, 90 days at 24/7 is 2160 hours. Divide that into $30k and you get $14 an hour, then divide that into and $7 an hour for each operator. Then deduct the fall market price for any goat that dies, and also other expenses for mineral, fencing, and maybe vet bills. Operators that can do their own vet work, certainly come out ahead.
Summer goat herding can be a win win for kids headed to college, because that $15k they make each for 90 days is more than they could make flipping burgers or working as a ranch hand. However, as with any agricultural endeavor, big rewards don't come without big risk.
I think a smart operator, would buy the goats at weaning and then not only get the contact money but also money from sale in the fall. So you can see it is impossible to set a percentage to be split by operator and owner. Just like any ranching or farming endeavor, it depends on so many factors.
