Goat Meat: The Responsible Side Effect of Breeding
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How could anyone eat goat meat or sell such an endearing animal as meat?
If you’d met us 15 years ago, we were there, too. Our farm was secondary-product-only — we didn’t harvest any animals. Now, we send thousands of pounds of Kiko goat a year into meat channels. What changed? Two things, really. The first: As meat eaters, we recognized what the animals experience in feedlot operations. Our 10-year-old son advocated for raising his meat humanely rather than supporting inhumane or unknown operations. The second: As a breeder, we recognized there are a limited number of “pet homes” for goats that can live up to 18 years, and many animals that aren’t intended for breeding are bred anyway, perpetuating genetic traits that aren’t beneficial to the breed.
Despite the recent tagline “Goats are the new dogs,” goats are classified as livestock. No matter how much we love them, they aren’t puppies or kittens, so the zoning for keeping them as pets is also very limited.
Our ranch is supported by buyers of breeding stock, pack goats, pet goats, goats for landscape management, dual-purpose goats for homesteads, and goats for meat. Raising goats for meat didn’t change our affection for goats or the time and attention we give them. All of our goats are treated the same — from birth until they meet their destiny. We implement humane practices for all the animals we raise.
As Meat Eaters, Not Selling Goats for Meat Felt Hypocritical
In our culture, people’s relationship with meat has changed drastically over the decades. We consume it in excess and with complete anonymity. It’s a package from the store like any other package, and the cost is tallied at the register. In Native American cultures (as well as others), harvesting meat is seen as a sacrifice — a life that is given to sustain another life — and there’s no higher cost.
Being reluctant to harvest goats you’ve raised for personal consumption is understandable, but we’ve even moved past this objection in our family. We chose to be intimately acquainted with the cost of the meat on our table. Most meat eaters don’t know how the animal that provided their meat lived or what it experienced to get to the store.
We decided that our goats destined for meat would experience the same beautiful life as our other animals do, and that we would experience the grief and sense of loss the end of life deserves. We’re recognized as a humane producer by Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT). FACT is a non-profit that plays a leading role in expanding humane farming and providing wider access to healthy, humanely produced food through advocacy, education, and direct support for farmers.
As Breeders, Refusing to Sell Goats for Meat Felt Irresponsible
The market is becoming saturated as more people keep and breed goats. Many goat owners face dwindling interest and lowball prices, which don’t come close to covering their expenses. Some choose to keep the goats they can’t sell, leading to overstocked pastures and health issues. Others offer low-price herd liquidations where the goats are often bought by inexperienced, budget-minded buyers who aren’t prepared, and they both suffer. Very few animal shelters accept livestock, resulting in neglected and abandoned goats.
As a responsible breeder, one of the required practices to protect the breed’s integrity is culling — or eliminating poor genetics to improve the stock available for breeding. This makes goats more competitive and desirable in the market, resulting in better outcomes for the producer — and goats — in the form of fewer health issues. If a breeder sells poor genetics, damage is done to their reputation and the breed. Selling animals as “non-breeding” is only effective if they’re castrated. Surgical alteration of female goats is rarely, if ever, done. In our herd, culling genetics isn’t selling a goat as a pet, unregistered, or at a discount. Culling is making meat so poor genetics aren’t passed on.
Know the Laws and Regulations Before You Sell
If you choose to sell goats as meat, know the laws that regulate it. You must know the withdrawal times of any medication or vaccination administered and disclose this to your buyer.
If you’re selling at a sale yard or auction, the goats must be beyond any withdrawal time unless the sale yard allows disclosure. Most states don’t allow retail sales of meat or sales by the cut unless it’s been slaughtered, processed, and labeled with USDA inspection. Many butchers don’t have USDA inspection options and can’t process your goats for legal retail sale. One workaround is to sell a whole goat and deliver it to a local processor for the owner, who can pick up his cuts after processing.
How much meat is on a goat?
It depends on condition and how much of the goat is considered meat. In some cultures, organs and entrails are included. Here’s a link to a handy calculator to help estimate the yield of a goat based on live weight. www.vcalc.com/wiki/AndrewBudd/Weight+of+Meat+on+a+Goat
There’s a Market for Goat Meat
There’s a strong market for goat meat in the United States. According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), the United States was the world’s top importer of goat meat in 2022 ($128M). American goat producers aren’t even beginning to meet the demand.
Prices and demand for goat meat can fluctuate wildly based on the availability of goats and the time of year. Goats are in high demand for cultural and religious holidays. Knowing the type, size, and weight of goats desired and when they’re needed will help plan breeding and sales to meet the market cycle.
The Pennsylvania Center for Poultry and Livestock Excellence has printed an excellent resource: the Holiday Meat Marketing Guide for Producers of Goat and Lamb for the years 2025-2028, reprinted with permission in Goat Journal’s “Goat Notes” and downloadable for digital subscribers. Full-sized posters are available while supplies last from the Penn State Livestock (sheep and goat) Extension Team offices.
The market for goat meat is broadening beyond the ethnic market to haute cuisine. Don’t be surprised to find “cabrito,” “chevon,” or “capretto” in fine dining establishments. Health and ecology-minded consumers are looking to goat meat as well. The nutritional profile of goat meat is one of the healthiest and lowest calorie meat options with high protein, low fat, and low cholesterol.
When considering the environmental impact of food choices, goats have the lowest water footprint of all livestock except chickens, according to the Water Footprint Network. As browsers rather than grazers, they protect soil cover and plant roots and produce well-distributed high-nitrogen fertilizer. They have a positive effect on the environment, preferring brush and noxious weeds. They can be maintained on small acreage, making them a sustainable option for small-scale farming and homesteading.
We shouldn’t be breeding unless we have buyers. If breeders need to find a market for the goats they’re producing, meat can be an ethically-practiced, good-conscience option.
A breeder can make a positive impact on the industry by giving meat buyers an option to support humane farming practices and environmental responsibility in raising meat animals. Breeders can also improve the future sustainability of goat production by reducing the less desirable genetics available for future breeding.
KAREN KOPF and her husband Dale own Kopf Canyon Ranch in Troy, Idaho. They enjoy “goating” together and helping others goat. You can learn more about them at Kopf Canyon Ranch on Facebook or KikoGoats.org.
Originally published in the 2024 Fall issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
