Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
eventually shed from the follicles. By extending day
lengths as winter approaches using artifi cial light, the fi ber-
growing period can be extended for cashmere goats. To
date, no practical economic use has been made of this
phenomenon.
Highly productive Chinese and Mongolian cashmere
goats grow in excess of 200 g of cashmere down per year.
In contrast, many Australian and U.S. cashmere goats grow
in the range of 50-150 g of down per year. These are genetic
differences since the lower-producing goats are most likely
on a much better plane of nutrition than their Chinese coun-
terparts. Nutrition effects on fi ber in the lower-producing
goats have been reported to be minimal or nonexistent.
However, experiments with more productive Australian
goats (McGregor, 1988) produced a curvilinear relationship
between digestible dry matter intake and cashmere produc-
tion with maximum down production at energy intakes of
approximately 1.4
faced annually by cashmere producers and twice a year
by mohair producers, is that of potentially deadly exposure
of the goats to bad weather conditions for a few weeks
after shearing. Most producers that have been in the busi-
ness for any length of time have shelters that can be used
by the goats during the immediate post-shearing period.
However, weather conditions being what they are, many
freshly shorn goats succumb to fast-moving cold fronts
and storms each year. Most of the other economic and
production challenges faced by fi ber goat producers are
common to most goat- and sheep-raising enterprises.
The threats and constraints faced by U.S. animal fi ber
producers include the following:
an increase in predation that has technological solutions
that cannot be used because of concerns by some seg-
ments of our society
globalization and growing competition from goat pro-
ducers in foreign countries in which goat meat, mohair,
cashmere, and textiles are being produced at lower cost
than in the U.S.
growing competition from aesthetically pleasing, func-
tional, and cheaper synthetic fi bers
mislabeled cashmere and mohair products and the sub-
sequent undermining of confi dence and satisfaction of
the consumer for these luxury fi bers
low per capita consumption of goat meat in the U.S.
competition from other livestock species that may
require lower inputs and may be more profi table than
goats (primarily cattle)
relatively high labor costs in North America and a short-
age of labor with specifi c “ goat skills, ” especially shearers
maintenance. Intake was also shown to
have a positive infl uence on average fi ber diameter. Protein
supplementation produced no increase in down or guard
hair growth. Interestingly, goats deprived of energy were
shown to divert nutrients to cashmere growth while those
fed ad libitum partitioned nutrients to hair growth. This
latter observation has been a common thread throughout
most nutrition experiments with cashmere goats.
Li Yongjun et al. (1996) reported age and sex effects in
the main economic traits of the highly productive Liaoning
goats. In males, clean down production (945 g) peaked at
3 years of age whereas production of the female increased
with age (350 g at 1 year of age to 486 g at 6 years of age).
Males and females produced their fi nest cashmere as year-
lings (13.2 and 12.9
×
m, respectively). Males peaked at 3
years of age (16.9 μm) before starting to decline slightly
while female fl eeces remained fairly constant at 15.3 μ m
between 3 and 6 years of age. For males, body weight
reached a plateau at 3 years of age (approximately 82 kg)
whereas female body weight increased each year from 1-6
years of age from 24 - 54 kg.
μ
the increasing value of land is decreasing the opportuni-
ties for profi table goat production
loss of infrastructure as the Angora goat and sheep
industries declined
contamination of cashmere and mohair with polypro-
pylene, black and colored fi bers from colored sheep,
meat and cashmere goats, cattle, and other animals
undermines the acceptability and value of U.S. fi bers in
foreign markets
perception by some consumers that chemical residues
are contained in meat (growth hormone and antibiotics)
and animal fi bers (insecticides)
the expectation of many young people for more com-
fortable and prosperous lives than could reasonably be
expected from raising goats
and currently, the high and increasing cost of feed are
making it extremely diffi cult to remain profi table in the
goat business.
CURRENT PRODUCTION CONDITIONS
AND PROBLEMS
Angora goat numbers have been in decline in the major-
producing countries for many years, and it is diffi cult to
predict if future fashion requirements or other factors will
reverse this trend. Cashmere production on the other hand
appears to be on the increase, and along with meat goat
production in general, prospects for further expansion
appear good. The remaining commentary is restricted pri-
marily to the situation on the North American continent.
A major recurring challenge in the fi ber goat industry,
