Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of the world, they still do. The reasons are simple: Goats are less expensive to purchase than
larger animals, and the amount of feed a goat requires per gallon of milk output is less than
that needed for cattle. Goats are hardy, smaller, and more manageable. Goats multiply rapidly.
Three or four goats are a much safer investment than a single cow because if one goat fails to
produce or becomes sick, the others can replace it. These qualities make goats ideal for small
dairy operations or for household use. Cow's milk only began to predominate when modern
dairies became a large, organized industry because larger animals could give greater quantities
of milk.
Dairy goats in the United States
Goats were brought to the Americas in the 1500s by Spanish seafarers who carried them on
their ships to provide milk and meat and often released them on small islands where they mul-
tiplied and could be caught and slaughtered for fresh meat by future voyagers.
A visitor to Plymouth Colony in September 1623 noted that the colony possessed six goats. In
1849, North America's first purebred goats, seven Angora does and two bucks, were imported
to South Carolina. In 1904, the first North American dairy goat exhibition was held at the St.
Louis World's Fair, and in the same year, the American Milk Goat Record, now the American
Dairy Goat Association (ADGA), was established. During the early 1900s, several breeds of
dairy goats were imported. The first officially documented Pygmy goats were imported to the
U.S. during the 1950s as zoo animals.
During the first half of the 1900s, goat's milk in the United States primarily was marketed
through pharmacies as an alternative for people who were allergic to cow's milk. In the 1970s,
a movement toward self-sufficiency and sustainable agriculture revived an interest in raising
dairy goats. Small, adaptable and consuming relatively few resources, one or two goats could
supply all the milk a family needed. During the 1980s, Americans became increasingly inter-
ested in healthful and natural foods, and during the 1990s, the rising popularity of specialty
cheeses and ethnic cuisines contributed to a growth in demand for goat milk and goat milk
products.
Before the late 20th century, travelers in rural America occasionally spotted a few goats
mixed in with a farmer's livestock in the fields, a nostalgic reminder of the “old world” of
European ancestors. During the last few decades, there has been an upsurge in the number of
Americans raising goats for meat and milk and a steady annual increase in the number of
dairy goats.
