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Despite recent dramatic growth, Missouri still has shortage of goatsMissouri Jodie Pennington, Ph.D., a small ruminant specialist working with Lincoln University and University of Missouri Extension, says goat production in Missouri has grown dramatically in the past several years. The last official census in 2007 had 80,000 meat goats in Missouri or 3.2 percent of the U.S. goat population. That means Missouri ranks eighth of all states in number of goats. Other estimates have the numbers of Missouri goats much higher according to Pennington. The census has 13,000 dairy goats and 1,400 fiber goats in the state, all numbers that rank in the top 10 of the states. "In the U.S., meat goat production has gained popularity in recent years in part because of a growing population of ethnic and faith-based groups who consume goat meat," said Pennington. "Missouri has followed similar trends but more goats are needed to meet consumer demand." The national estimates indicate that the U.S. in 2007 needed an additional 750,000 head to meet current demands for goat meat. "Complicating the shortage of goats is that many producers sold their breeding goats when feed prices rose in recent years. We are now seeing the market for goats getting tighter, resulting in record high prices," said Pennington. At White's Sheep and Goat Sale in Diamond on Jan. 14, the No. 1 market goats weighing 40 to 70 pounds sold for $2.00 to $2.32 per pound. "Most of the land in southwest Missouri is suitable for goat grazing. Managing forage production for grazing goats can supply 80 percent of their nutritional requirements," said Pennington. Goats prefer browse (twigs, shoots and leaves of trees, bushes and vines) or bushy type plants such as weeds, briers, and brush but they will also eat some grasses. Goats graze from the top down and do well with limited or no grain if adequate forages are available. "Goats graze on cool-season and warm-season grasses, but data also show that goats will perform better with grass and browse as compared with grass only," said Pennington.
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