
Goat Farmers Could Profit From PeanutsBy Jill Lee March 11, 1999Southern farmers who produce forage
peanuts might see their profits grow with goats, thanks to an increasingly
diverse U.S. population with a taste for goat meat. The forage peanuts that
readily grow in Florida and the southern parts of the Gulf States also make
great goat food, according to new agricultural research. The U.S. Department of Agriculture teamed
up with Fort Valley
State University at Fort Valley, Ga., to find out if goats can be raised on
different kinds of forages. The project is part of Fort Valley's comprehensive
program to develop profitable year-round grazing systems for goats. Scientists with USDA's Agricultural
Research Service assisted Ft. Valley in nutritional analysis, using near
infra-red spectrometry. They found no significant difference in nutritional
value between alfalfa, the usual goat forage, and the leafy peanut plants.
Forage peanuts don't produce nuts like the kind people eat, so most of their
nutritional value is in the leaves. Scientists at Fort Valley, who conceived the goat-peanut idea, kept live
herds to see how the practice worked outside the laboratory. They found the
goats may prefer peanut plants over alfalfa in the fall breeding season. These
results suggest setting aside some peanuts for pasture might be a profitable
option. Goats are a low environmental impact livestock. A recent study done for USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service shows goat
meat will gain markets because of the United States' increasing cultural
diversity. Caribbean and West African cuisines use mature goat meat for jerks
and barbecues. Muslims enjoy kid goat meat as part of their festive meal,
id-al-Fitr, which is the break from Ramadan fasting. Greek, Italian and other European cultures also make goat part of their
holiday fare. Latino cuisine favors Cabrito, or meat from a kid goat weighing
less than 20 pounds. But it isn't just new immigrants who want goat.
Restaurants featuring international cuisine are adding to the number of
consumers craving goat--not only in the South, but nationwide. Scientific contact: William Windham, ARS Richard B. Russell
Agricultural Research Center, Athens, Ga., phone (706) 546-3513, fax (706)
546-3607, [email protected]; Tom Terrill,
Animal Science Department, Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Ga.,
phone (912) 825-6814, fax (912) 825-6376,
[email protected]. Story contacts William Robert Windham U.S. Department of Agriculture | |