The updated Speech Topics were passed by the JABGA Board of Directors at the 2023 Summer Face-to Face meeting. Novice Regionals: What is your favorite part about showing goats? Nationals: What should you do in the show ring? Junior Regionals: What is the importance of building a bond with your show goat? Nationals: How do you decide what buck to breed your does to? Intermediate Regionals: How can barn/pen construction affect your animals? Nationals: Why/ Why not is record keeping important for the care of your herd? Senior Regionals: What is the importance of a balanced feeding program for your herd? Nationals: Pick a biosecurity issue and how would you overcome it in your herd.

Current Junior (4-8 years old) Intermediate (9-13 years old) Senior (14-18 old) Updated Novice (4-7 years old) Junior (8-12 years old) Intermediate (13-16 years old) Senior (17-21 years old) JABGA Board of Directors proposes that the age change be implemented on September 1st, so it would be effective for the start of the 2023-2024 Regional Show Series and all JABGA shows.

It's almost time for the 2023 ABGA & JABGA Summer Board of Directors Face-to-Face meetings. The ABGA Face-to-Face meeting is open to all ABGA members. When: ABGA: July 14 - July 15, 2023 JABGA: July 13 - July 14,2023 Where: Embassy Suites by Hilton 2401 Bass Pro Drive Grapevine, Texas 76051

The ABGA office will be closed on Monday, May 29, 2023 in observance of Memorial Day. Thank you to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

If you’re looking for a new Christmas recipe, look no further. This Christmas Goat Meatballs Recipe sounds delicious. INGREDIENTS 1 pound ground goat 1 small clove garlic, minced 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest 1/2 teaspoon black pepper Olive oil for blushing 3 tablespoons light molasses, honey, or spiced syrup (you can change this to what sounds good to you!) Chopped fresh mint and pomegranate seeds to garnish Directions Kneed together the goat meat, garlic, salt, orange zest, and pepper until combined in a large bowl (you can be creative with your spices: ginger, cumin or cinnamon would be a lively addition). Form into 1-inch meatballs. Once you've moved them to a foil-lined baking sheet, brush with oil. Turn on the broiler. Put meatballs under the broiler until golden and just cooked through, turning as you go. Brush with molasses immediately. Sprinkle with mint and pomegranate and serve with toothpicks. It's an appetizer made perfect with crackers and your favorite variety of goat cheese!

We are taking nominations for this year’s Ambassador of The Breed! The American Boer Goat Association celebrates and recognizes those who help to promote the American Boer Goat Breed. You can nominate your candidate by clicking the button below:

Congratulations to the newly elected 2023-2024 JABGA Board of Directors! Jordan Jelinek (Area 1) Kate Schaefer (Area 2) Amber Schroeder (Area 3) Alaina Blair (Area 4) Rebecca Sullivan (Area 5) This is a momentous occasion and an exciting new chapter for the Junior American Boer Goat Association. We look forward to seeing the positive impact you will have on the future of the JABGA program. Best wishes for a successful term ahead! #JABGA #news

When Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds stopped by the Mid-Summer Classic Open Goat Show during the Van Buren County Fair, ABGA member Rachel Smith said it stopped the show. “ We respect Governor Reynolds, and we were honored ,” said Rachel, whose family was hosting the Open Meat Goat Show for the second time. Rachel and her husband Blain Smith’s children were showing goats when the Governor stopped by. “My kids grasped the magnitude of this.” As an Iowa Meat Goat Association board member, Rachel had heard the governor might stop by when she was making rounds at some agriculture events. When Rachel told her kids, her daughter Audrey commented, “She will want to see Pearl” (the goat she was showing). Not only did Governor Reynolds see Pearl, she also held Audrey’s goat. She asked the Smith kids some questions too. “They are proud of their goats,” the proud mother added. “They feed their own goats, and they do their own caretaking.” While Rachel and her husband help when needed, she said her kids know what to do. In fact, Audrey, who is 19 years old, is interested in agriculture. She is majoring in biochemistry at Central College in Pella, Iowa and plans to be veterinarian. “Raising Boer goats gave me a purpose while growing up,” Audrey said. “Through showing I have learned many life lessons and met a great community of people. It was exciting to meet someone I look up to. Governor Reynolds talked about her family’s involvement in the agriculture industry.” Audrey’s 15-year-old Zane agreed. “It was a privilege to meet the governor! She asked me about my animal and how I have been doing showing this summer. She was really nice, and I can’t believe our state governor showed up to a small-town county fair.” Zane likes goats and showing them. So much so, he’s following in his mother’s footsteps. He is the reporter for the Junior Iowa Meat Goat Association. The Smiths, who have been ABGA members for about 10 years, live in Keosauqua where they have 45 head. Goats mean quite a bit to their kids because they’re homeschooled. “I like to show goats for the fun of it,” Zane said. “I don’t really do it for the competition.” This is music to his mother’s ears, because she believes this: winning is just a fun part of it.

Ever wonder why your Certificates of Registration are different colors? Check out the images below to see which Herd Book your Boer goat is registered to. For an explanation of the ABGA Herd Books, lets dive into the Rules & Regulations below! Rule 200: Herd Books The record of animal registrations of the Association shall be known as the American Boer Goat Herd Book. The methods in which the records are kept are vested with the Board of Directors. The American Boer Goat Herd Book is made up of three (3) herd books: Fullblood American Purebred American Percentage The herd book(s) are divided into categories. Each category is assigned a level of Boer breeding that determines the category of next generation. In order to maintain common percentage breaks, the percentage of the animal may be rounded to the nearest category. Rule 201: Fullblood Boer Goats Fullblood Boer Goats must have originated from 100% Fullblood stock, either imported or American born. Rule 202: American Purebred Boer Goat Does American Purebred Boer Goat Does must have a minimum of 93.75% and less than 100% Boer blood and originate from any combination of Fullblood, American Purebred, or American Percentage parents whose average percentage falls within the requirements for this category of registration. Does in this category become eligible to be shown in the same classes as Fullblood Boer goats. Rule 203: American Purebred Boer Goat Bucks American Purebred Boer Goats Bucks must have a minimum of 96.875% and less than 100% Boer blood and originate from any combination of Fullblood, American Purebred, or American Percentage parents whose average percentage falls within the requirements for this category of registration. Bucks in this category are eligible to be shown in the same classes as Fullblood Boer goats. Rule 204: American Percentage Boer Goat Does American Percentage Boer Goat Does must have a minimum of 25% and less than 93.75% Boer blood and originate from any combination of Fullblood, American Purebred, American Percentage, or unregistered parents whose average percentage falls within the requirements for this category of registration. Rule 205: American Percentage Boer Goat Bucks American Percentage Boer Goat Bucks must have a minimum of 50% and less than 96.875% Boer blood and originate from any combination of Fullblood, American Purebred, American Percentage, or unregistered parents whose average percentage falls within the requirements for this category of registration. Rule 206: Percentage Boer Wethers; Record of Pedigree Bucks of less than 50% Boer goat blood will not be eligible for registration. Wethers (castrated males) with at least one registered parent are eligible for a “Record of Pedigree” certificate. This “Record of Pedigree” will be issued after the proper documentation has been submitted with the wether’s herd prefix, herd name, tattoos, date of birth, and a three-generation history. Rule 207: Animals Otherwise Ineligible for Registration or Record of Pedigree; Listing Paper Animals that are otherwise ineligible for registration or a Record of Pedigree will be eligible for a “Listing Paper” with the Association. This “Listing Paper” will be issued after the proper documentation has been submitted with the applicant’s herd prefix, herd name, tattoos, date of birth, and a copy of any applicable registration certificate issued by another association.

This recipe is courtesy of former JABGA Area 4 Directors Noah Ridding and Isaac Ridding. You can find this and many other tasty recipes in the JABGA "Cooking for the Future", now available in our E-Store. Easy Goat Enchiladas Ingredients 12 tortillas 1 onion, chopped ¾ LB grated Cheddar cheese 2 cans cream of chicken soup 1 PINT sour cream 3 jalapeno peppers 2 CUPS cooked goat meat Directions Mix sour cream and soup in a saucepan; add chopped peppers. Heat mixture until bubbling. Heat tortilla in hot oil one at a time. Add onions, cheese, goat meat, and a spoonful of soup mixture in the center of each tortilla; roll and place in a large baking dish. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the enchiladas; top with remaining grated cheese. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese has melted.

First Coni Ross Memorial Scholarship Recipient “Being chosen as the first-ever Coni Ross scholarship recipient means a lot to me,” said McKenna Blair, who is from Wagoner, Okla. “I considered her to be the best of the best.” Ranked 7th in her class, McKenna graduated Wagoner High School with a 4.0 GPA in May 2021. She now attends Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. As a double major in Agriculture Education and Agriculture Communications, she has a 4.0 GPA. “I will forever cherish Coni’s impact on my life,” McKenna said. “I can still remember her smiling and walking around the ring doing what she loved most. She brought so much positivity to the barns that always brightened my day.” Known worldwide for her knowledge of Boer goats and her interest in sharing her knowledge with others, McKenna said she hopes to follow in Coni’s footsteps. “I can only hope to, one day, be as knowledgeable about livestock as Coni and expand my own education to help and mold the generations to come,” McKenna said. After she graduates from college, McKenna wants to be an ag educator and build her own Boer goat herd. “Boer goats are beautiful animals,” McKenna said. “There is nothing cuter than a baby goat.” But it goes farther than that for McKenna. McKenna also wants to pay it forward by providing show animals to kids who are interested in showing and building a bond with the younger generations. McKenna said if you look deeper into what the Boer goat offers, there are many reasons to like Boer goats. “At the show level, they teach youth and adults how to manage time as well as how to be good caregivers,” she explained. “I think one of the greatest things Boer goats have to offer is their efficiency to convert forage to meat production. If a person isn’t interested in the show aspect of the Boer goat, the market and farm-to-table aspect is very beneficial and should be utilized more in today's world.” #JABGA #news

Congratulations to Jiles Coble who was selected to the 2021 Georgia National Livestock Ambassador team! #JABGA #news