THE AMERICAN MEAT GOAT DERBY

Here at the AMGA one of the most often asked questions we receive is "where can I find goat meat (chevon)?" "I never see it in my grocers meat case", is a commonly made statement. In answer to the above question my standard reply is that you aren’t going to see it in the major chain stores anytime soon. It seems that unless you visit one of the "mom & pop" groceries in areas with a heavy ethnic population, goat meat will be absent from the grocer’s meat case.

Fall is here and temperatures are cooling off and while in the Southwest we are still short on soil moisture, things are still looking okay. Hopefully your breeding seasons are going well. It seems to be going better here than last year. I am not sure the exact reason, but last year myself and many other producers had a difficult time getting does to breed up. Many of us had animals which bred three or more times before settling (becoming impregnated).

To my way of thinking this was possibly due to a vitamin A deficiency caused by lack of green plant growth, due to drought conditions. You can buy all the feed you want, but to be honest nothing beats Mother Nature's own nutrition for balance of nutrients. Last year was the first year my fullblood kidding percentage weaned fell below 200% since I got started raising them in 1993. While they still weaned 196% it was less than I had come to expect of them. Again I'm unsure of the exact reason but feel the range conditions had something to do with it. For those of you who were able to attend the Labor Day production sales held here in Texas I hope you were able to find your dream goat or goats. The quality of the animals offered at many of the sales was outstanding and prices seemed to hold up well even though there were larger numbers sold than ever before. The quality of animals at the sales and the results of the different performance tests show just how serious meat goat breeders are getting in their efforts. One man from the republic of South Africa did make a statement which troubled me though; it was "you Americans are too unfocused in your breeding programs". This was due to the fact there are many different phenotypes of Boer being bred here in the U.S. We Americans are inveterate "tinkers" and I think we just haven't decided exactly what style of goat is best. But again that's the stuff that makes horse races interesting - all the horses aren't the same. I also look for different phenotypes to be developed for a better fit into different particular geographic regions within our vast country. We also have a wide range of management styles in our industry and a set of animals which perform well in one setting might just fall apart under different conditions. After all we don't just raise one uniform breed of cattle across our nation and I would speculate the U.S. Meat Goat industry to be still developing breed types and traits for quite some years to come. For those of you new to business I urge you to find out what is working in your particular region as vegetative quality and quantity is as variable and diverse in our nation as is our populace. To quote a long term producer, the following is Dr. Joe David Ross's statement when I asked him what he thought of some animals I had purchased. "What I think about them isn't that important, they are your animals and if you like them that's what matters".

I suppose the accuracy of that statement is reflected in the fact that if you like your type of goats it is reflected in your management and record keeping practices as it becomes a joy, not a job.

AMGA director Mrs. Coni Ross is spear-heading an effort to establish a set of standards for meat goat breeders. Input from all the rest of us on the board is going into this venture also. Economically important traits are being focused on and when completed we hope to have a set of "Breed" standards which will be applicable to all meat type goats regardless of the breed. Much as we here at the AMGA have always done all animals will be judged on merit, not breed. While I personally am partial to Boer Goats there are just as great strides being made by the breeders of "Spanish" goats. The improved Spanish goats of today are light years ahead of where that breed was just a decade ago. For those of you wanting tough, hardy and colorful animals this breed merits your attention. It is the Kiko goat of the United States having been subjected to the same harsh conditions as Kikos were in their New Zealands homeland. I am proud of the diversity in our industry as I am in our breeders efforts to improve their stock, whatever breed they have chosen to focus on. We don't have the right goat yet but then the race isn't over either. We all just hit the ground running and go from "can till can't". And with the American passion for breed improvement in all our livestock breeds I expect this to be an endless marathon race to breed the "Worlds Best Meat Goat", and one we'll never finish.