Starting in the goat business, it is necessary to know the best management practices of the operation (dairy, meat or fiber) before you begin. The following will give you an overview about goats and each area of operation that you may be considering to start your business.
The Meat Goat Management Wheel makes meat goat management and production decisions simple and easy.
The wheel is basically a management calendar. To use it, set the date you kid, and the wheel indicates the dates for all the doe, buck and kid management tasks for the entire year.
The wheel contains lots of general management information that can be adjusted for individual operations and different management styles. If you have questions about any of these management or production recommendations, …
Rory Lewandowski, Extension Agent Ag/NR Athens County
Goat meat is a unique product that is very much in demand among certain segments of our population. But how can producers go about marketing goat to restaurants?
Athens restauranteur Mike McKniff, who buys vegetables, fruit, dairy and meat produce from local farmers, recommends doing background research to determine which restaurants to approach. Those that can appreciate quality products and have some flexibility in purchasing are the best to …
Meat Goat Marketing
Demographic shifts in the United States indicate that there are almost 53 million people who have a preference for goat meat. There are approximately 2 million market goats in the United States, according to the latest agricultural statistics. Based on consumption trends, goat demand exceeds inventory by 160 percent.
As the meat-goat industry in the United States has grown, so to has the market infrastructure. Producers must realize that our markets are dependent on demographics, supply/demand and …
The most common reason given by producers wanting to manage vegetation is to grow more grass to produce more beef. There also may be a desire to enhance the productivity of degraded range sites or improve landscape aesthetics. Another reason is to control invading plant species, such as kudzu in the South, sericea lespedeza in several states, red cedar, various oak species and many other invasive plant species. Often, large ranches may have some vegetation problems and …
For well over 100 years, goats have been used to manage unwanted vegetation in the United States. The role of goats in vegetation management is expected to expand in the near future due to a combination of factors, including environmental degradation created by past systems of farming; reduced efforts to control unwanted vegetation that has increased its spread and growth; the increasing expense of mechanical methods of vegetation control, most of which rely on the use …
The adequacy of a nutritional program can be assessed by observing changes in body weight and condition of the animal. If animals lose weight, body condition will be reduced, alerting an observant manager to a problem. Body condition is particularly responsive to energy and protein adequacy. Body condition scoring is a system of assigning a numerical score based on physical characteristics indicative of fatness. These include the amount of muscle and fat covering the spine in the …
Several characteristics of goats make them the animal of choice for vegetation management. Goats are a low-input animal, require a minimum investment for start-up, have low expenditures for maintenance and require only a moderate level of labor for animal management. However, goats do require a high level of management knowledge. Goats have a diverse dietary preference and consume a wide variety of plants. They have very nimble lips, allowing for selection and consumption of the most nutritious components …
