July 14, 2004

Increasing Demand For Goat Meat In US County
 

Goat-milk products are becoming mainstream, goat meat is also increasing in popularity in the US. "The goat and lamb market the last two years has been fantastic," says Jim DeGaetano, owner and operator of Carlisle Livestock Market in South Middleton Township.

Americans of Italian, Greek and Jewish ancestry have begun eating lamb year-round instead of only on holidays, he says.

And a growing Muslim population demands goat meat, says DeGaetano, who handles more than 10,000 goats annually.

"It has become consistent all year round. We have buyers that send goats into all the cities in the Northeast," DeGaetano says.

Sellers at the local livestock market come from as far as Pittsburgh, he says.

Shippensburg livestock dealer Wayne Craig tells the same story, though most of his goats and sheep come "out of the West - Kansas, even some from out of Texas," and from North Carolina and Virginia.

Depending on the week, from 300 to 700 goats destined for slaughter are sold at Wayne F. Craig & Sons.

"It's a big thing right now, the goat business. A lot of (the farmers) got out of the sheep business and got in it," Craig says.

Locally, goats are mostly raised for 4-H projects or for milking, Craig says. But some area goat milkers are considering entry into the goat-meat business.