MEAT GOAT PRODUCTION HANDBOOK

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North Carolina is in an ideal position to become a leading supplier of goat products because of its vast forage resources, many small landowners, and its proximity to the major markets on the East Coast. There has been a graded goat sale conducted in Siler City, NC for 17 years. This sale was organized and conducted with significant input from the NC Department of Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service. However, very little additional educational and research effort has been put into developing production and marketing strategies to assist farmers. In the past five years a few workers have increased the effort to provide farmers some educational assistance. This activity was initiated because of the potential role goats can have in improving pastures, biologically control of "weedy" species, and because of the demand for meat by a growing population of residents who prefer goat over other meat sources.

Information on the goat population in N. C. is limited. One report (Winrock, 1986) indicated about 6,700 nannies in 1982 and 3,600 in 1978. Based on recent market reports (1993 NCDA MARKET REPORTS of 10 weekly livestock markets) more than 23,000 head moved through those markets during 1993. This would indicate that the doe flock is significantly higher than anyone previously thought; it certainly indicates that goats are much more prevalent in NC than sheep. Since most animals are in small flocks, it is reasonable to believe that more than 3,000 North Carolinians own goats.
Historical Aspects of Goat Production in NC

The goat is unjustly considered as an animal suitable only to areas of low productivity, or the animal of choice for poor peoples or nations. Many un-informed people believe that goats eat "anything", destroy vegetation and cause disease problems for associated livestock. Even scientist and educators in much of the USA have not fairly evaluated the goat for its potential as a meat animal nor as a biological control agent. The goat's varied feeding behavior, adaptability and handling characteristics make it an ideal animal to use in mixed grazing systems with cattle or sheep to better utilize the forage-browse resources found on most farms in NC

Historically, North Carolina has supplied goats for the East Coast markets through an organized state grated goat market (held about 2-weeks prior to Easter) located in Siler City. Over the past 17 years the Easter market has offered the best prices for young kids. Even though many animals have been sold through the local livestock markets, the Graded Sale in Siler City (Figure 1) has averaged selling about 598 head each year (range of 210-1,040 head). The prime and choice kids have averaged about $1.06/lb live weight (LWT); the Good and Medium kids have averaged $.92/lb of LWT (Figure 2). These prices have not always been better than those obtained from non graded sales, but the market offered farmers a dependable outlet.

In September 1993, the Halal Meat and Food Corporation's new slaughter facility began operation in Bladenboro, NC. This is the only meat plant in the US under USDA inspection that is operating under the principles of the Islamic Faith. Meat products from this plant will be shipped all over the eastern U.S., and into Europe and Asia. Goats for the plant are presently being shipped from Texas, but it is expected that goats will be purchased locally when the supply, quality and price relationships stabilize.

North Carolina has vast land resources available to supply suitable feed for goats and other ruminants. Beef cow numbers fluctuate between 300-400,000, and there is enough unused forage available in cattle pastures to supply the needs for 1 to 2 goats/cow. Over a period of years such mixed grazing systems would likely improve pasture condition and botanical composition which would result in changes in goat:cow ratios. With the improved pasture condition it is expected that overall animal production will increase from the farm with a minimum of additional inputs.

The following resources are available in N.C. and could be utilized by an expanding goat herd. On many farms, goats could make use of forage or browse which is not currently being used.

1. Pasture: more than a million acres of improved pasture which receive some level of fertilization, reseeding and grazing management. Plant composition of such pastures:

a. alfalfa, clovers, lespedeza,
b. tall fescue, orchardgrass, ryegrass, bluegrass
c. bermudagrass, dallisgrass, bahiagrass
d. millet, sorghums, small grains

2. Pasture: more than 0.8 million acres of unimproved pasture which has received very little fertilization, or reseeding or grazing management over the years.

a. crabgrass, carpetgrass, bluegrass, tall fescue
b. rescuegrass, broomsedge, bermudagrass
c. brambles, cedars, pine, sumac, dogwoods, honeysuckle, poplar, cherry, hackberry, privet, oak, persimmon

3. Forests: more than 15+ million acres of which some part could be grazed with goats to control understory or to supply a source of feed on an infrequent basis.

a. understory hardwood leaves and twigs
b. acorns, bark, other seeds
c. native grasses and forbs

4. Crop residue: 2+/- million acres which could be used for selective grazing by animals.

a. corn, soybean, small grain
b. cover crops
c. weedy growth following crop harvest

5. Browse and forage found on sites around farm buildings and roadsides -- most farmsteads contain areas which are not conducive for mowing or grazing with cattle. Goats are excellent biological control alternatives to pesticides or mowing in such areas.

The goat, given a choice will often obtain more than 50% of its daily ration from browse, however it will perform well on all grazing systems. Goats naturally have a wide variation in dietary preference, and this variation can be useful in farming systems to utilize feed resources which are not used by cattle or sheep.

The goat's ability to be very selective allows it to choose nutrient dense plant parts to help meet its daily requirements. This aspect, plus relatively high dry matter intake aids the goat in maintaining itself under conditions which provide poor feed quality for cattle. The ability of goats to consume a large variety of plant materials is related to their agility and dexterity, narrow mouth, mobile upper lips, prehensile tongue and their tendency to stretch upward on hind legs to reach browse. These feeding character-istics can be useful in eliminating or utilizing plants which are otherwise unused for "feeding" purposes.

Since 1987, NCSU workers have maintained a small flock of goats for the purpose of observing performance when grazed with cattle or sheep on well managed pastures or woodlot understory. Animals have been maintained and productive on "all forage/-browse" feeding system; no grain has been used over the six year period.

Woodlot understory: Demonstrations have shown that does, with nursing kids, can effectively utilize pasture and understory vegetation in a hardwood forest to provide satisfactory kid growth. The understory vegetation can be preserved, or destroyed, depending on the stocking density and frequency of regrazing. In one such demonstration in Raleigh, more than 400 "goat days" of feed/acre were obtained from a typical woodlot without destroying the existing vegetation. Animals were grazed once in spring and once in late summer at a stock density of 35 head/acre of woodlot for 3-5 day periods. Destroying or reducing the existing vegetation could be accomplished by allowing the animals to regraze the understory 3-5 times per year.

When the animals were not on woodlot they were grazing with cattle or sheep on high quality pasture (tall fescue, bermudagrass, clover, alfalfa, small grains). We observed that goats did not graze nimblewill, wild strawberry, nor yellow-crownbeard, regardless of stock pressure. Does readily browsed honeysuckle, brambles, privet, kudzu and hardwood leaves/seedlings.

At the Mountain Research Station in Waynesville, goats grazing alone (12 mature does/acre) or with cattle (7 does/acre with .8 to 1.3 500 lb steers/acre) were used to renovate grown up "waste land" (abandoned apple orchard). The botanical composition of the pasture was primarily herbaceous weeds such as brambles, honeysuckle, chickweed, mustard, strawberry, thistle, multiflora rose and hardwood saplings with some grasses and clover. Over the three grazing seasons ground cover in the goat pasture has remained at about 68%-80%, but the cover from favorable grasses and legumes has increased from 16% in May 1991 to 52% in October 1993 (Table 1). Grazing usually occurred for 45-60 days in May-July and for another 24-35 days in September-October. The shift in botanical composition was attributed to the preference of goats for the broadleaf species, which allowed the grasses to be more competitive in the mixture. Ground cover in the control plot declined from 70% in May 1991 to 32% in October 1993, with less than 10% of the cover from grasses.

Goats are very effective in controlling troublesome weeds such as multiflora rose and thistle. In the abandoned orchard at the Mountain Research Station, individual multiflora rose bushes were identified and marked to determine the effects of goat browsing on plant survival. Data (Table 2) indicate that the rose plants were virtually eliminated after three grazing seasons. The condition of the bushes, as indicated by reduced height, area, leaf out and bush density, was severely effected by the goats. Where goats grazed, more than 80% of the rose canes were dead by October 1993. It is expected that the bushes will be killed completely during the fourth grazing season.

In 1992, a survey was developed to gain information about the status of the goat industry and management practices and needs of the farmers. The information will help Extension workers and others to plan for future meetings, literature preparation, market development and management assistance. This survey was supplied to farmers at three conferences or field days and at the 1992 Graded Goat Sale; it was published in the NC Dairy Goat Association Newsletter, and in the Carolina Connection (NC Cattlemen's Association Publication). It is assumed that more than 300 people knew about the survey. Fifty-four people returned the survey. More than 62% of the respondents consider themselves part-time farmers. Below is a summary of some of the questions and their responses.

1. The 54 farmers had an average of 16 does, 3 bucks, and 6 replacement does. These numbers represented 1350 animals in 20 counties of NC.

2. More than 60% of the farms kidded in February and March, and 70% of does have kids each year; each doe on the responding farms weaned an average of 1.9 kids each. Kids are weaned at 3 months of age on average.

3. Most kids are sold at 35-45 lbs weight during the April-June period.

4. When asked "what do you do with the kids" 43% of respondents said they used them for home consumption, 83% kept them as breeding stock, 65% sold some for breeding stock and 91% sold some for meat consumption.

5. On the average about half of the kids produced by the respondents were sold at local livestock markets and one half was sold at the organized goat pool in Siler City.

6. More than 75% of the respondents said they would like to have times and places to sell animals in addition to the organized goat pool. Indications are that March-May and September-October were the preferred months to sell.

7. More than 65% of respondents said they would be interested in forming a marketing cooperative for the purpose of offering uniform animals to potential buyers.

8. More than half of the goats covered in this survey were brush and mixed dairy breeds used as meat goats. More than half of the respondents graze the goats with other animal types, such as cattle, sheep and even geese.

During the past three years the demand for information concerning meat goat manage-ment has increased tremendously. It is difficult to judge exactly why this demand has emerged, but it may be attributed to a multitude of things such as increased demand for meat, recognition of the benefit of using goats as biological control agents, profit potential, increased educational opportunities and the realization that goats can be effectively integrated into many of the current farming systems in NC. The survey indicates that people would be interested in developing better markets and participating in cooperative activities.

An overall observation is that we have a shortage of high quality, meaty and rapid growing animals to meet the meat market. Introducing animals with more muscle, year-round breeding and twining will be a tremendous benefit to NC farmers.

Goats can make a valuable contribution to sustainable farming systems in NC because of their ability to eat forage which is currently being wasted and because their grazing/browsing habits will result in improved pastures for the associated grazing animals.

There is a critical need for more research and educational work in order to assist growers who want to develop management systems which will be profitable and efficient.

Acknowledgments: This paper contains many ideas and information which have been assembled jointly with Drs. Paul Mueller and Matt Poore and Ray McKinnie.

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