Meat Goat Blog

Where Do You Sell Goats?

Raising goats is a business, hopefully a profit making enterprise. Professor  Jodie Pennington and Arkansas Extension Agent, Mike McCarter, found,

"Most producers will not tolerate a nonpaying hobby operation. The enterprise must sooner or later become a paying operation, or it will cease to exist. A producer who cannot successfully market what he/she grows will not be in business for an extended period of time. A few people keep goats as pets and companion animals; however, the economics of goat production is such that most producers sell the animals, either for meat or for breeding purposes."

 They explain the different ways to market or sell your goats explaining the process is divided into two broad categories: on-farm and off-farm markets. Both types involve selling by the head like other livestock such as cattle. One difference is there is a penalty imposed for fat goats. According to Pennington and McCarter,"The standard Boer buck in show condition would be considered extremely fat as would many dairy does at the end of lactation." An experienced buyer would pay less for a fat Boer than healthy Spanish or Kiko.

If you want to know more about the various ways to sell your goats, go to http://ar.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/uploads/da0c52ec76dbd91858d6f9e35adf9897.pdf.

 

 

 

 

 

Is a Freshened Up Web Page one of Your New Year's Resolutions?

Procrastination is a killer isn't it! How many times have we heard goat ranchers say, " I need to get the web page updated. " But, another year goes by and nothing happens. You tell yourself 'word of mouth is the best advertising anyway" !

It's true there is no better way to get new customers than word of mouth. So why do you even need a web page anyway? One reason is the questions those potential customers never ask you because they just don't call. Take me for example, when someone gives me a recommendation, do I pick up the phone to call. No! The first thing I usually do is google them to see what else I can find out. Like many people, I prefer to see a little more about the business before I wast my time on the telephone. Besides, I don't want to spend a lot of time on the phone if it doesn't look like what I need.

If a new web site or updates to your existing one is on your list of things to get done this year, do it now while it's cold outside and before kidding season starts. We suggest you talk to Harry Bryan at the Bryan Group. He specializes in agricultural web pages and " does what he says he will. " Give him a call at (865) 256-5379 unless you're like me and want to look first, then go to take a peak  what he can do for you at http://www.bryangroup.net/index.htm

All Things Goats On Facebook

All Things Goats has a Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/All-Things-Goat/130484502022 If you are into social networking and like goats, it looks like the place to be. I thought about adding my photo, but just didn't see how another "old goat" would add much value.

From a marketing point of view, the more contacts you make in the industry, the easier it will be to sell your goats. As pointed out in earlier posts, you need to start your goat business from the perspective of who is going to buy your goats.

You definitely  want to make the acquaintance of the folks at All Things Goats!!

Spanish Kiko Cross

The Spanish Kiko cross is the meat goat we recommend. It's the best of the meat goat world as far as we are concerned! Nuff said.

Oklahoma Goat Marketing Coop

Oklahoma meat goat producers received a letter and survey from J.J. Jones, Area Ag Economist, Oklahoma State University Extension office regarding the proposed coop to sell goats for meat production. The survey is very important to the process of forming a cooperative and Jones stresses in his letter that information is needed to evaluate whether a coop is feasible. A low response rate in the number of surveys returned or the lack of complete information would probably indicate the undesirability of the project. If you have any questions or comments, you can reach J.J. Jones at 580-332-7011. If you didn't receive a survey form, you can complete one on-line at http://meatgoat.okstate.edu. The answers are confidential and the survey takes less than five minutes to complete and return. We want to thank J.J. for spearheading this effort.

Meat Goat Production and Marketing Video

Meat goat production  -  click on the link below to see a video. It was well done. However, we disagree with the need for boer genetics to increase the amount of meat on the carcass. Sure boers are larger, but a lot of the size is bone and otherwise non-usable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEnLEq7jLpA

Oklahoma Goat Production - 3rd Largest Producer

Oklahoma is ripe for a meat goat processing plant of its own, Purcell ag producer Mike Perschbacher said. He's expecting to conclude negotiations with a California investor group for a plant on initial demand of at least 40,000 pounds of meat per month.

"This won't just be a big deal for me. It'll help everyone in the goat business in Oklahoma," he said. "There's a lot of people here in the state who just aren't making what they could be because they don't know where to sell what they're raising. And there's a lot of potential in this market right now" according to an article written by Brian Brus in The Journal Record, April 21, 2009.

He also said, according to the National Agricultural Statistical Service's latest figures, Oklahoma is the third-largest producer of meat goats in the country, with about 115,000 head, the same figure as last year. Tennessee has 133,000 meat goats, up slightly from 2008, and Texas has 980,000, down slightly.

Most meat goat production is in the southeastern part of the country, with the exception of California, which is rising to challenge Oklahoma's position. That's largely due to the immigrant cultural diversity on the West Coast, experts said - goat meat is a mainstay in many countries and more goat's milk is consumed worldwide than cow's milk.

It all  sounds really good to us! http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_20090421/ai_n31575925/

Meat Goats For Sale In Florida Make Sun-Sentinel News

We need more newspaper journalists covering the meat goat industry like Christine Show. She wrote a nice article about some meat goat producers in Orlando, Florida recently. It was well written and caught our attention in Oklahoma. Pleasant to see some nice publicity about the industry.You can see the article at: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/orl-locgoat-meat-061109061109jun11,0,111478.story?track=rss. .

Meat Goat Cooperative Meeting

The meeting for the Meat Goat Cooperative took place in Pittsburgh Co. last week. It has been reported there were 25 people in attendance. Dr. Phil Kenkel discussed how a cooperative could work and how long it would take to put one in place. There were 13 producers who volunteered to serve on a steering committee to look into the project and talk to other producers about their interest. The committee will need to determine approximately how many goats and what size goats would be available at certain times of the year. JJ Jones is going to develop  a survey for the steering committee to use in looking into the possible cooperative. If it looks like the venture is feasible, then a membership drive can be initiated. This process will take quite a while to do it the correct way and make sure it works appropriately. Undoubtedly, it is a worthwhile endeavor.

Web Page Marketing For Your Goats

Sometimes new goat breeders are like new parents. They can't wait for the kids to arrive, then they can't get them to leave. Marketing isn't given much consideration until it it time for the kids to go and  the opportunity for the best price is missed.

We highly recommend Harry Bryan with The Bryan Group, www.bryangroup.net. He has several affordable plans for hosting your web page and does really nice work. He is prompt, fair, and quite helpful. We met Harry on the internet a few years ago when he began hosting our web page, www.postoak.us.  He takes care of us and never wastes your time  or tries to sell you something you don't want!

We recommend new breeders to start their business from the " sale of their kids" and work backwards. Give careful thought to your marketing strategy before it is time for your kids to leave and send Harry an e-mail. By the way, this is our endorsement of him. He didn't ask us to do it, but earned our recommendation.