Goat farming
Raising and breeding of domestic goats
Goat farming involves the raising and breeding of domestic goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) as a branch of animal husbandry. People farm goats principally for their meat, milk, fiber and skins.
Goat farming can be very suited to production alongside other livestock (such as sheep and cattle) on low-quality grazing land. Goats efficiently convert sub-quality grazing matter that is less desirable for other livestock into quality lean meat. Furthermore, goats can be farmed with a relatively small area of pasture and with limited resources.
01Pasture
As with other herbivores, the number of animals that a goat farmer can raise and sustain is dependent on the quality of the pasture. However, since goats will eat vegetation that most other domesticated livestock decline, they will subsist even on very poor land. Therefore, goat herds remain an important asset in regions with sparse and low quality vegetation. However, goats also show preference to certain browse and grasses, such as Multiflora Rose, Briar, Ironweed, Ragweed, Spiny Amaranth, and Pigweed among others. They are less fond of grasses such as Tall Fescue, Bermuda Grass, Orchard Grass, and Crab Grass.
02Worldwide goat population statistics
As of 2022, India is the largest producer of goat's milk. In 2024, the United States of America was the largest importer of goat's milk, and in the same year, New Zealand was the top exporter.
| Country/Region | Total animals (millions) | Goat milk (MT) | Goat meat (million MT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| World | ----- | 15.2 | 4.8 |
| Africa | 294.5 | 3.2 | 1.1 |
| Nigeria | 53.8 | N/A | 0.26 |
| Sudan | 43.1 | 1.47 | 0.19 |
| Asia | 511.3 | 8.89 | 3.4 |
| Afghanistan | 6.38 | 0.11 | 0.04 |
| Pakistan | 60.00 | N/A | N/A |
| Iran | 16.00 | N/A | N/A |
| India | 125.7 | 4.0 | 0.48 |
| Bangladesh | 56.4 | 2.16 | 0.21 |
| China | 149.37 | 0.26 | 1.83 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2.2 | 0.076 | 0.024 |
| Americas | 37.3 | 0.54 | 0.15 |
| Mexico | 8.8 | 0.16 | 0.04 |
| USA | 3.1 | N/A | 0.022 |
| Europe | 17.86 | 2.59 | 0.012 |
| UK | 0.09 | N/A | N/A |
| France | 1.2 | 0.58 | 0.007 |
| Oceania | 3.42 | 0.0004 | 0.018 |
In the US
Meat goats are farmed in all US states, although most meat goat production occurs in the Southeast. Texas is the primary producer of meat goats, representing 38% of US production.
Male goats are generally not required for the dairy-goat industry and are usually slaughtered for meat soon after birth. In the UK, approximately 30,000 billy goats from the dairy industry are slaughtered each year.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Goat farming”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Goats in AFrica.jpg by FrogsLegs71, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Boerbok.jpg by Teunie at Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
- ArganGoatTreeBelow.jpg by Elgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0
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