goat market?

[pen]

I have read lately that the market is in need of more goat meat. How would you find the market need in your area? I mean ,if you just raise them and take them to the auction,they dont sell very high. I have also wondered about the milk market too, we talked to some one about a year ago who milks for a company,but we are out of their pick up range. That is the only milk connection we know of in northern IN.
We have raised goats before ,but only for our own use.
Just wondering ,because we see so many of you that raise goats. pen

[TSYORK]

I have a friend who sells her goat milk for 5 bucks a gallon, and she can't keep the stuff!

[Delinda]

The meat goat market is indeed booming right now. The demand for goat meat far exceeds what is being produced now. As far as the auctions go it depends on how many goats you can take. You can make money at auctions if you have enough to sell. Last week Tompson Station in Tn. was paying $1.47 per pound. If you take a 60lb. just weaned buckling you are getting around $90. dollars for him. Not bad if you have a trailor load of them. I have seen it go to over $2.00 per lb. If you are talking about a very small amount of bucklings, the auction is probably not the way to go. Maybe you could just advertise and sell them off the farm.

[KSALguy]

do you have any Ethnic populations in your area? hispanic, midleastern, asian, African (immigrated from africa), jamacans, etc.
go to their places of buisness and post flyers that you sell meat goats, they will come to you, alot will butcher it them self,
we used to sell to the Muslims in Kansas and for their hollidays would come and buy our live animals then butcher them onsite or take them home with them, it was the way alot of the Goat producers would do it in Kansas or else we would sell the already processed meat by the pound

[pen]

we do have alot of mexicans not far from here,what size do people usually want for butchering? We have several stores and restaurants within 30 miles also. I will have to check them out,and maybe start looking for some goats!Thanks for your answers too.

[6e]

KSALguy:
We're from Kansas and I was curious where to find outlets for our meat goats? The auctions in SE Kansas bring next to nothing.....Any marketing ideas you would care to share????

[Delinda]

You can also check to see what kind of organizations(sp) you have in your area. For example we have Tn. meat goat producers, it is an organization of meat goat breeders, they have found a buyer who will go to members farms and buy their meat goats at a set price, then he takes them to auction an sells them. He makes a profit and the members who do not or can not take their goats to market have a way to sell them. I know other southern states have this, maybe your state has it also? As far as size, the prime goats are just weaned buckling, around 60 pounds. They do not have to be cut, most markets seem to prefer that they are not.

[GAchickenguy]

Here in GA we could sell more young billies if we had them. We never seem to have enough and what I love about the ethnic market around here is everyone asks for intact young billies so there is no need to even cut them and most ask us for them when they around 40-60 lbs because they are butchering for a special holiday and roasting the whole goat at once. Even at the local auction with the different meat men coming through buying as many as they can I am getting $75 and up for 50 lb average bucklings.

6e I am also from Kansas and moved here 12 years ago. My dad who still lives in Eastern Kansas says that goats were bringing pretty good at the Ottawa Ks auction when I talked to him about it but that has been awhile. Also with the large hispanic population in Eastern Ks I wouldnt think there would be much of a problem getting high prices if you marketed them at the right places.