The U.S. dairy goat herd grew 61 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to the latest Census of Agriculture. Numbers for hens and beef cattle were flat. Numbers for specialty animals dropped out of sight. While goat numbers are predicted to continue increasing, the business is not without challenges.
Source: Washington Post, April 23, 2019. Link. . . . To this day, banks have not wanted to loan to goat dairies. People think you can start as a hobby and scale up, but a small cow dairy is 250 cows, and it takes 10 goats to equal the milk of one cow. You really need 1,000 goats to have a viable business, which means 2,000 babies you have to feed by bottle. The only path to success is having systems in place that manager larger quantities of goats.”
INSIGHTS: Note the references to the opportunities for women entrepreneurs, as well as a mention of a veterinarian shortage and few drugs labeled for use in goats. These are opportunities for enterprising animal health pros.