1. Marketing Options for Goats
SUSAN SCHOENIAN (Shāy nē ŭn)
Sheep & Goat Specialist
Western Maryland Research & Education Center
sschoen@umd.edu – www.sheepandgoat.com

2. Goat marketing realities
• Low per capita
consumption of meat.
• Specialized demand, mostly
“ethnic,” but is growing.
• Poor infrastructure, but
is improving.
• High processing costs –
low yielding animal.
• Laws regulating goat
slaughter are extensive,
complicated, and open to
interpretation.

3. Today’s topics
• Ethnic markets
• Goat slaughter options
• Grading
• Marketing options

4. What is an ethnic market?
• An ethnic market is a
group of consumers that
share a common cultural
background: race, color,
national origin, religion or
language.
• There are many different
“ethnic” markets for goats
and goat meat.

5. North Carolina Maryland USA
Population (2012 est) 9,752,073 5,884,563 313,914,040
% White, Non-Hispanic 71.9 60.8 77.9
% Hispanic/Latino 8.7 8.7 16.9
% Black/African-American 22.0 30.9 13.1
% Asian 2.5 6.0 5.1
% American Indian 1.5 0.5 1.2
% foreign born 7.4 13.5 12.8
Per capita income $25,256 $35,751 $27,915
Median household income $46,291 $72,419 $52,762
U.S. Census: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html
Find out where mosques are: http://islamicvalley.com
Population Demographics

6. Tips for marketing to ethnic markets
• Identify target market(s)
• Learn their customs
• Know their holidays
• Find a way to connect
with your potential
consumers.
• Produce the kind(s) of
goats they want and at
the time of year they
want them . . . and do it
for a profit.

7. Ethnic Calendar 2013-2017
Holiday 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Eid uh-Adha
Festival of the Sacrifice
Oct 15-18 Oct 4-7 Sept 23-27 Sept 11-14 Sept 1-4
Islamic New Year Nov 4 Oct 25 Oct 14 Oct 2 Sept 21-22
Prophet’s birthday Jan 24 Jan 13 Dec 23 Dec 14 Dec1
Start of Ramadan July 9 June 28 June 18 June 6 May 27
Eid ul-Fitr
Festival of Fast-breaking
Aug 8-11 July 29-31 July 18-21 July 7-9 June 26-28
Passover Mar 26-27 Mar 15-22 April 4-11 April 23-30 April 11-18
Rosh Hashanah Sept 5-6 Sept 24-25 Sept 4-5 Oct 3-4 Sept 21-22
Chanukah Nov 28-Dec 5 Dec 17-24 Dec 7-14 Dec 25-Jan1 Dec 13-20
Easter Mar 31 April 20 April 5 Mar 27 April 16
Orthodox Easter May 5 April 20 April 12 May 1 April 16
Christmas Dec 25 Dec 25 Dec 25 Dec 25 Dec 25
Orthodox Christmas Jan 7 Jan 7 Jan 7 Jan 7 Jan 7
Chinese New Year Feb 10 Jan 31 Feb 19 Feb 8 Jan 28
Source: http://www.interfaithcalendar.org

8. Slaughter options for goats
Inspection levels
1. Federal (USDA)
2. State
3. Local (custom-exempt)
4. On-farm
(owner vs. customer)

9. Federally-inspected (USDA) slaughter
• Most regulated.
• Must have HACCP plan.
• Includes pre and post-mortem
inspection of animal.
• Additional requirements for
labeling, further processing,
transporting, and storing of
meat.
• Can sell properly labeled goat
meat and meat products to
anyone.

10. State-inspected slaughter
• Collaborative effort between
state and federal government.
• State regulations must be “at
least equal to” federal
regulations.
• Sales of state-inspected meat
usually limited to the state in
which the meat was inspected.
• 27 states still have state meat
inspection programs.
• Even without state meat
inspection, states can make
laws more restrictive than
USDA (federal regulations0.
With Without
Alabama
Arizona
Delaware
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maine
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Alaska
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Hawaii
Idaho
Kentucky
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Nebraska
Nevada
New
Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Washington

11. Custom-exempt slaughter
• Slaughter facility is inspected,
but slaughter is exempt from
pre- and post-mortem
inspection of animal.
• Restricted to owner of animal
1. Raises it
2. Purchases it for slaughter.
• Carcass and meat stamped
“not for resale” and returned
to owner for consumption by
owner, family, and unpaid
guests and employees.

12. On-farm slaughter
By person who raised animal
• Permitted by USDA
• Consumption of meat limited to
farmer, family, and nonpaying
guests and employees.
By person who purchases animal
• Not prohibited by federal
regulations, but often prohibited
by local or state regulations (if
seller provides site for slaughter).
• In states where it is legal,
consumption of meat is limited to
owner, family, and non-paying
guests and employees.

13. Ethnic, religious, and ritual slaughter
1. Halal - Muslim
2. Kosher - Jewish
3. Other
• Religious slaughter is exempt
from humane slaughter laws
• Animal is not usually stunned;
however, it should be properly
restrained for slaughter.
• Religious slaughter is usually
certified by a third party
organization.
• Can be difficult to find
slaughterhouses that will
perform religious or specialized
slaughter.

14. Grading
• Putting like animals together.
• Allows animals to be comingled at
market place.
• Facilitates marketing by providing a
means by which livestock and
carcasses can be uniformly
described and traded.
• Prices can be reported and
compared on the basis of grade and
other descriptors (weight, age, and
sex).
• A method of determining
market readiness, regardless of
marketing program.

15. USDA Goat Grades
independent of breed, age, size, and fat cover (?)
Selection 1
• Superior
meat-type
conformation
Selection 2
• Average
muscling
Selection 3
• Inferior
meat-type
conformation

16. • Learn how to read a
market report.
• If possible, visit market(s) to
determine accuracy of
market reporting.
• Use market reports to
determine what your
animals are worth.

17. Grades can have a large influence on prices.
$40
$60
$80
$100
$120
$140
$160
$180
$200
11-Mar 25-Mar 8-Apr 22-Apr 6-May 20-May 3-Jun 17-Jun 1-Jul 15-Jul 29-Jul 12-Aug
60-80 lb. kids, price per head (weighted average) - New Holland, PA
Selection 1 Selection 2 Selection 3

18. WHOLESALE
(commodity)
Local sale barn
Weekly sale
Special sale
Graded sale
Terminal sale
MIDDLEMAN
Broker, Dealer
Abattoir
Live price
Carcass price
Co-op
Live market
Direct marketer
RETAIL
(Direct to
consumer)
On-farm
Freezer trade
Ethnic markets
Marketing options for live goats
Convenience
Control

19. WHOLESALE
(whole carcass)
Consumer
Restaurant
Retail store
RETAIL
(meat, cuts)
Consumer
Farm store
Farmer’s market
CSA (delivery)
Food Service
Internet
Restaurant
Retail store
Marketing options for goat meat
Income
Costs
Labor

20. Auctions (sale barns, stockyards)
local, weekly, special, holiday, graded, holiday, regional, terminal
PROS
• Price discovery
Competition
• Prompt, guaranteed
payment
• Unbiased grading
• Certified weights
• Easy
• Convenient
• Low labor
CONS
• Price taker: don’t know
price ahead of time
• Price volatility
• Selling fees:
commission, yardage, insura
nce, feed
• Stressful to animals
• Distance to some auctions

21. Middleman
dealer, broker, buyer, abattoir, co-op, live market, direct marketer
PROS
• Price is known
ahead of time
• Can negotiate price,
shrink, and delivery
• No selling fees
CONS
• Payment risk
• May not be highest price

22. Direct marketing
Live animal, whole carcass, wholesale or retail cuts
PROS
• Highest income: potential
for highest profit
• Set own prices
• Opportunity to brand
product
CONS
• Costs -
processing, transportation,
etc.
• Time

23. Marketing tips
• Sell your goats at a profitable price;
know your costs of production and
breakeven price(s).
• Sell your goats for the highest net
price; consider all your marketing
costs.
• Know what your goats are worth
and what they weigh.
• Don’t overplay the holidays.
• Diversify your market.
• Make a profit; better to sell
two #2’s than one #1.

24. Thank you for your attention.
Susan Schoenian
University of Maryland Extension
www.sheepandgoat.com