Determining the Financial And Resource Management Impacts Of Integrating Meat Goat And Beef Cattle Enterprises

Abstract

With the increasing ethnic population and the continuing increase in their household income, the US meat goat industry is growing. Despite the previous research showing the contributions of goats to livestock and forage production systems in multi-species grazing pastures, the economic aspects of adding a meat goat enterprise to an existing beef operation have not been fully studied and quantified. This study seeks to determine the profitability of integrating beef and meat goat enterprises, given a specified amount of land and capital plus assumptions concerning available farm resources and productivity levels. Since a whole farm approach is needed to understand the optimal allocation of resources, a Linear Programming model is used. The study focuses on three farm sizes, small, medium and large for Southeast and Northeast Oklahoma. The scenarios for the study include native pasture, native pasture with forest, native and improved pasture with forest, and native and improved pasture with forest and cropland.Solutions for the base scenario with no livestock constraints include a mix of beef and goats. Results are similar for other land use scenarios (native pasture with forest land, native and improved pasture with forest land and native and improved pasture with forest and cropland) in that both beef and goats are included in the optimal solution. Dry matter availability from forage production together with the ability to purchase hay and supplements determines the stocking rate and the mix of livestock species. In the unrestricted solutions, breeding goats substitute for beef stockers, stocker goats are eliminated, and beef cow numbers increase on all farm sizes, which indicate that the beef cows and breeding goat enterprises are complementary. In every scenario and farm size, the inclusion of goats with beef enterprise results in an increase in net returns, lowers the capital required and improves forage and pasture utilization on the farm.