According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are 2.6 million meat goats in the United States. But the need for goat meat is far greater due to an increasing immigrant population from nations where goat meat is a diet staple. Goat meat is also becoming more popular because it is leaner than other popular meat products. Currently, the United States imports a large amount of goat meat.
Tennessee State University recently received funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to further its research on goat meat production. The research is under the direction of Dr. Richard Browning, of the College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Sciences at Tennessee State University.
The Tennessee State herd consists of 250 breeding does from several breeds of goats. The latest research involves Savanna goats, the fifth breed in the university’s herd. Information gathered by university researchers is shared with farmers and producers with the goal to improve efficiency in the goat meat industry.
