Analyzing the Costs and Returns of US Meat Goat Farms

Abstract

This paper analyzes the costs and returns of meat goat farms for the US and Southeastern US region. We compare components of costs and returns of meat goat production based on operation size (small and large) and targeted marketing segment (slaughter, breeding/show, and mixed). Our costs and returns analyses show that input expenses decrease substantially with increasing scale of operation. Increasing the number of meat goats for small meat goat farms can lead to reduced input expenses per acre.