With the increasing interest in the production of goat meat, the consumption of goat meat is on the rise. Still, the demand for the product has not been met, click here: Agri Orbit

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Most popular meat

According to Conrad, goat meat is the most popular meat in the world – more popular than beef, fish and chicken. Goats are found in North and South America in particular, and since these nations do not generally enjoy mutton, the demand for goat meat is high.

Jessica Miller of the University of Michigan confirms this in her research, which indicates that almost 63% of the world’s population consumes goat meat. This trend is particularly common in South Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Goat meat is also increasingly featured on the menus of American restaurants.

Conrad says that, following a recent deal with a retailer, he and a partner simply could not meet the demand and had to terminate the contract. “Demand increased from one carcass in the first week to around 15 carcasses in the fifth week. If I had a goat for each call I received over the last three weeks, I would have had a lot of money,” he says.

A hardy breed

South Africa is a water-scarce country, which means that the same amount of livestock produced in other countries cannot be realised in South Africa. When talking to experts, there are different opinions about the hardiness of Boer goats. While the general feeling is that these goats are hardy, can survive on little feed and are not prone to diseases, others say that sheep fare much better than Boer goats.

He believes that Boer goats do not perform as well as cattle and sheep in feedlots, as they will literally eat up the profits of the feedlot. “In addition, Boer goats do not gain weight as quickly, which means that they cannot be kept efficiently in a feedlot. The break-even point for Boer goat farmers is 400 goats. Extensive Boer goat farming is therefore the most profitable, in my opinion, although you obviously need land to farm extensively.

“However, one thing everyone agrees on is that Boer goats effectively utilize the area. The goats prefer small trees and shrubs as basic diet, but their excellent economic value lies in the fact that they can use certain plants that are less appealing to other breeds. ~

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