Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cow milk (about $20) to about 2 times that without any
offi cially set price.
The average milk production levels per doe in the
Mediterranean region, although the premier region of
goat milk production in the world, are much below
those of American dairy goats, partly due to the lack
of concentrates in their diets and their low genetic base.
Also, low quality, unimproved pasturing used in this
region, and many of their management systems, may be
contributing factors. Average annual milk production per
doe in France has been reported at 397 kg, in Spain at
115 kg, in Italy at 102 kg, and in Greece at 87 kg (IDF,
2000), while average offi cial goat milk production levels
in the U.S. are currently around 1,000 kg per doe (Tables
14.1 and 14.6 ).
If goats are raised for dual purposes of meat and milk
production, a decision must be made by the goat farmer
on whether it is more economical to sell most of the avail-
able milk and nurse the kids with commercial milk replacer
feed, or whether it is more profi table to feed the milk to as
many goat kids as possible for sale of kid meat. The deci-
sion on this premise can be made on the basis of a formula
for R - value (Gall, 1990 ):
GOAT MILK PRODUCTS AND
THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
Compared to cow or human milk, goat milk is reported to
possess unique characteristics, such as high digestibility,
distinct alkalinity, high buffering capacity as well as
certain therapeutic values in medicine and human nutrition
(Walker, 1965; Park, 1994). Goat milk has been recom-
mended as an ideal substitute for patients who suffer from
allergies against cow milk or other food sources.
Cheese from goat milk is the major manufactured
product that has signifi cant research data available in the
literature. Goat milk cheese originated in Mesopotamia
and was developed especially in the Mediterranean coun-
tries of Greece, Turkey, Syria, Israel, Iraq, and also Iran
(Kosikowski, 1986). The milk was probably made into soft
cheese fi rst and then into hard ripened cheeses later.
Greece became dominant in feta cheese production from
sheep and goat milk. France, however, exceeds Greece in
total goat cheese production with its farmstead cheese
making. France today offers the best in goat milk cheeses,
many of which are surface ripened. In the U.S., goat
cheeses have gained popularity among ethnic groups,
health food consumers, connoisseurs, and private goat
farmers since early 1980. The continued shift in consumer
tastes to “exotic” foreign and specialty cheeses has led to
an increased volume of goat cheese importation to the U.S.
The volume of imported goat cheese to the U.S. from
France alone was 447 metric tons in 1988, which com-
prised approximately 80% of the total imported goat
cheeses (Park, 1990). In 2008, it is estimated that more
than 1,500 metric tons of French goat cheeses are imported
to the U.S. However, domestic U.S. goat cheese produc-
tion especially from artisanal goat farm producer-
processors has greatly increased in competitive volumes
in recent years and was much aided by the promotion
of the American Cheese Society annual cheese contests.
In addition to cheeses, there are other manufactured goat
milk products consumed in lesser volumes than cheeses,
including yogurt, butter, kefi r, ghee, sweets, powdered and
condensed products, and even cosmetics.
(
)
×
( )
Kid weight gain kg
Kid weight price $
R
=
( ) × ( )
If R is less than 1.00, selling goat milk in the market
is more economical than feeding it to kids. If kid
weight price is at least more than 6 times the milk price,
then milk feeding for goat meat production is more
profi table.
There is also a need for incentive payments for goat milk
producers to meet and improve health standard require-
ments for fl uid milk and optimum milk composition for
the interests of the cheese and yogurt yields. In Europe,
bonus or penalty monies are paid by using scorecards for
certain desirable levels of certain parameters in goat milk
contents such as coliform bacteria, listeria, fat lipolysis,
bacteria counts, somatic cell counts (SCC), pH, fat, solids,
protein, casein, water, and the absence of antibiotics and
sediment. European limits for goat milk to be pasteurized
are
Amount of milk
fed kg
Milk price $
Diversity of Goat Cheeses Compared to
Similar Cow Cheeses
Many different types of goat milk cheeses are produced
and consumed worldwide, depending on locality (Park and
Guo, 2006). Diversities among different varieties of goat
cheeses are attributable to the high variation in seasonal
milk composition, modifi cations of manufacturing proce-
dures, and multitudes of aging times and conditions.
Varietal differences among goat cheeses are infl uenced by
0.5 million/
mL for processing of raw milk products (IDF, 2000).
Current SCC limits in goat milk are set at 1.35 million/mL
in France, 1.6 in Spain, 1.743 in Italy, compared to
European cow milk SCC limits at 0.4 million/mL
(Haenlein, 2001). The acceptable values of bacteria counts
for U.S. goat milk are 1.5 million/mL and 0.5 million/mL
for pasteurized and raw milk, respectively. Current SCC
limits are set at 1.0 million/mL.
<
1.5 million bacteria count/mL, but are
<
