American Boer Goat Association (ABGA) Executive Director Caleb Boardman recently attended the National Goat Conference hosted by Langston University, representing the association and connecting with more than 400 producers, educators, and researchers from across the country. The conference provided valuable insights into the challenges facing meat goat producers while also highlighting opportunities for growth in the U.S. market.
In addition to promoting ABGA and engaging with industry stakeholders, Boardman established connections with researchers whose work could lead to future collaborative projects. These relationships present an opportunity to bridge the gap between research and the real-world challenges facing breeders and commercial producers, ultimately helping advance meat goat production. While potential projects are still in the exploratory stages, the conversations laid important groundwork for future partnerships.
Throughout the conference, several sessions focused on the challenges facing today's producers, but also reinforced the tremendous potential within the meat goat industry. As illustrated in the accompanying graphs, domestic goat inventories have remained relatively stagnant over the past decade, while imports of frozen goat meat have continued to rise. This trend suggests a growing demand for goat meat in the United States that domestic production has yet to fully meet.
For ABGA and its members, this presents a significant opportunity. As demand for goat meat continues to grow, the association is well-positioned to help strengthen the industry through education, research partnerships, breed advancement, and support for producers. By building relationships and identifying opportunities for collaboration, ABGA continues to work to position its members for success and to contribute to the long-term growth of the U.S. meat goat industry.
The U.S. goat population graph illustrates a long-term shift in the industry’s makeup. Angora goat numbers declined sharply following the ending of the National Wool Act in the mid-90’s, and in conjunction with the importation of the Boer goat into the United States in the early-90’s, meat goats quickly became the largest segment of the population. Meat goat inventory nevertheless remains below its earlier peak, showing that domestic herd expansion has not followed a steady upward path.
The three graphs above illustrate that while domestic goat slaughter has remained relatively flat over the past decade, the significant increase in import volume and value shows that domestic demand has increased drastically. Based on a 34-pound carcass, the US is now importing the equivalent of 1.4 million goats per year to meet the growing demand.
Capturing more of that opportunity will require attention to production costs, herd productivity, consistent supply, access to processing, and buyer preferences. Additionally, the ABGA will continue to start conversations around legislation at both the state and national levels to level the playing field and increase the market share for domestic producers. Ultimately, as ABGA members continue to breed sound, productive genetics that support efficient commercial meat production, demand for Boer genetics will continue to increase across the commercial sector, providing additional revenue opportunities for all sectors of the membership. By promoting its members, listening to producer concerns, and exploring research partnerships, ABGA is working to help translate these opportunities into progress for the meat goat industry.
