from the Chicago Tribune: The growing demand for goat meat in metropolitan New York has provided a boost for farms that are worlds away from Queens Discount Halal Meat, geographically and culturally. Despite New Holland’s relative isolation in rural Pennsylvania, farmers from as far away as Texas ship their goats here because of its relative proximity to major East Coast cities.
According to the most recent Census of Agriculture, which the Department of Agriculture publishes every five years, goats are among the fastest growing sectors of the livestock industry. The number of goats raised annually for meat increased from 1.2 million to 1.9 million–a jump of 58 percent–from 1997 to 2002. The number of farms that raise meat goats grew to 74,980 from 63,422.
At a time when many other sectors of agriculture are consolidating, “the meat goat business is the bright spot in agriculture,” said Robert Herr, an agricultural consultant and sometime goat buyer who conducts seminars for people–from retirees to down-on-their-luck farmers–considering the goat trade. “Goats are bringing more [money] per pound than any other livestock.”
While the idea of eating goat is considered distasteful by some in the United States, goat is the primary meat dish in many parts of the world. With the number of immigrants arriving from the Middle East, Mexico and Asia surging, so, too, does the demand for goat meat.