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Abstract

Over the last couple of decades, the demand for goat meat has risen in the U.S. However, the current supply of domestic goats does not meet the demand. In fact, the increase in demand is the result of the growth in ethnic populations in the U.S. Consequently, small producers are raising goats as a source of income. Thus, they must become familiar with ethnic holidays or festivals, understand marketing, and the importance of body condition scoring and selection criteria in order to increase returns from the sale of their goats. The objectives of this paper were to discuss the U.S. goat inventory, seasonality of demand and carcass specifications, marketing channels for selling goats, body condition scoring, and selection criteria used for grading goats. When producers understand the aforementioned attributes of the market and implement them, they will be able to take advantage of the market; thus, leading to sustainable enterprises.

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