Regional Meat Goat Production and Marketing Project: Phase 2

Small and limited-resource farmers are looking for new and alternative farm enterprises to sustain their operations. Supported programs such as tobacco, peanuts and cotton are in jeopardy in the collaborative states. Each collaborative state has regions characterized by low income, low educational attainment and poverty. Together these situations created the need for: 1) alternative, sustainable farm enterprises that have low “start-up” and investment costs, and 2) knowledgeable agricultural professionals, particularly County Extension Agents, Extension paraprofessionals, veterinarians, and farmer mentors who can deliver educational programs to small, limited-resource farmers and diverse, non-traditional farmer clientele. In addition to sustainable production systems, agricultural professionals working with these enterprises need to understand the existing and potential markets for the products. Goat production and marketing systems are expanding throughout the small farm economy in the South. Many small farmers are looking at goat production to enhance their income, or as their primary farm enterprise. Possibly the major behavior changes for agricultural professionals are to accept goat enterprises for their sustainable, economic value to the region, and to expand their educational efforts to include diverse, non-traditional farmers who are producing goats. Goats are a rapidly growing small farm industry, but the research and educational support base for the industry needs to be strengthened. Needed educational information includes climate and environmental concerns in addition to basic information on production systems, economics and marketing. Kentucky’s Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy has prioritized funding for goat production, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture has added a marketing support unit for goats, yet the land grant support base is weak. The Kentucky Agricultural Advancement Council, an elected group of thirty farmers and Extension agents with delegates elected from county and district Extension councils and supported by SARE-PDP state funds, identified goat production and marketing as the primary research and educational needs of Kentucky agriculture since 2000. The Georgia Farm Bureau identified funding and support of the goat industry to be a top priority. Prairie View A&M University and Langston University have made major commitments to goat production through their Kiki de la Garza Goat Institutes, as has Fort Valley State University and Florida A&M University, but the economic and marketing components need to be strengthened in these existing programs. Recognizing the need for goat production and marketing education, the collaborative team shared goat production, veterinary, and marketing educational materials, conducted joint educational programming, and collaborated to identify educational needs and to develop materials. The central purpose was training for agricultural professionals, agencies, non-profits, paraprofessionals, and farmer mentors. A second purpose was to build a regional network of educators and mentors with expertise in sustainable goat production and marketing (initially meat goats, but potentially expanding into dairy goats) who provided training programs throughout the region. Lastly, through these networks, goals included developing longer term, multi-state education initiatives on sustainable goat production and marketing with producers, agents and consumers as collaborators and advisors. As stated earlier, meat goats are a rapidly expanding alternative farm enterprise in the South, particularly in regions that are facing reductions in commodity programs, i.e. tobacco. Professionals and farmers are searching for research-based information, yet it is lacking in many locations. This project provided a Goat Symposium and training workshop on sustainable meat goat production and the Risk-Assessed Business Planning for Small Producers manual, plus provided a forum for assessing the results of the two Regional Meat Goat Projects and future plans to continue collaborative efforts. Collaborators: Kentucky State University, University of Kentucky, Tennessee State University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, Prairie View A&M University, and Langston University. Phase 2A of the project focused on educational programs and materials development within Kentucky and Tennessee. Phase 2B focused on educational programs and materials development across the region.