Goat Farming…A Resilient Food System

Caitlin Pace

Foodshed Resilience Assignment

November 27, 2012

SUST 434

ABSTRACT

Due to current climate change and increasing population, many of our food industries are

vulnerable to shock. This fact brings up the need to consider alternative food sources to sustain

our population. The goal of this paper is to suggest community farming, goat farming in

particular, as an alternative to large industry food systems, specifically the large US cattle

industry, including industrial dairy operations and beef CAFOs. This paper provides a concise,

step by step process that Albuquerque could potentially follow to move toward a more resilient,

less vulnerable, and more sustainable, community oriented goat farm system. These steps

include city planning, zoning codes for raising livestock, community education about raising

goats, promotion of other food to fill in nutritional gaps that aren’t obtained from goat meat and

milk products, and the marketing of the community farms through city cooperatives. The larger

implication is that we must become more proactive about the future of our food supply. It is

imperative that we have a sustainable plan in place before a crisis deteriorates our food supply.

Introduction

The United States, according to the USDA, is the world’s largest producer of beef, and there

is a growing demand for high quality grain-fed beef among the general population, however

there are threats to the cattle industry are continually increasing. In July the New York Times

reported that food prices were expected to increase due to severe drought, “now affecting 88

percent of the corn crop, a staple of processed foods and animal feed as well as the nation’s

leading farm export… The government’s forecast, based on a consumer price index for food,

estimated that prices would rise 4 to 5 percent for beef next year.” (Lowrey and Nixon, 2012)

Current farming practices, especially large agri-businesses depend largely on fossil fuels. The

massive uses of fossil fuels is explained in Agricultural Production and Energy Resources,

which states that “fuel is used off the farm to manufacture goods used for farming: natural gas

for nitrogen fertilizers, coal for steel production, and petroleum for herbicides, fungicides,

plastics, and the manufacture of machinery…and fuel is used on the farm as manufactured

products are applied” (Heichel 1976).

These large industrial farms have negative health effects on surrounding areas. Health Effects

from Breathing Air Near CAFOs for Feeder Cattle or Hogs discusses the concern of

concentrated animal feeding operations release toxic dust containing “microbial products as well

as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and a variety of volatile organic compounds” (Von Essen and

Auvermann 2005). Not only are these CAFOs a public health concern, but they also have

become a serious issue of ethics and morality.

Urban sprawl is a final trend that is negatively affecting the cattle industry. Cattle require

large grazing fields, which are rapidly being converted to subdivisions and business districts.

Additionally, “urbanization contributes to increased demand for animal products, possibly due to

better availability of diverse food options in urban areas” (Barrett 2001).

The goat industry in the United States is a relatively new outlook for filling in the gaps where

the cattle industry is being negatively affected. Since it is still in its beginnings in the US, this

“goat market” has a lot of freedom for harvesting new ideas. Many studies are being written on

the success of the goat market in areas such as New Zealand, as well as the innovations leading

to a growing goat market in the United States. “The total goat market in the United States is

thought to be growing at a rate of more than 10 to 15% annually…Goats are particularly

attractive to small-scale producers because the small animals do not require large tracts of land

and are easier to handle than larger livestock,” (Sande et al. 2005). Because the goat market is

still in its beginnings in the United States, there is limited information about the demand and

production of goat products; however, Houston and Epperson conclude that there appears to be

substantial room for growth in this market. Outlook on meat goat industry (Spencer 2008, Sahlu

and Goetsch 2005)

One of the main trends seen in the rise of demand goat products is that there is an increasing

population of immigrants in the United States. Immigrants from the Middle East, Southeast Asia,

and the Caribbean, who have relocated to the United States, still habitually consume goat meat,

especially for religious and cultural reasons.

The feed that a goat requires is much less than that required of a cow. Statistics from the

North Dakota State University Agriculture Communication department, suggest that a small-

medium sized cow (1,216 lbs) needs 28 pounds of dry feed daily. The goat on the other hand,

“consumes from 3.00 to 4.00 kg of dry feed per 100 kg body weight,” (Shankarnarayan et al.

1985). In pounds this converts to a (220 lb) goat consuming approximately 13-17 pounds of dry

feed daily. This may vary slightly depending on the breed.

The concept of resilience in a Foodshed focuses attention on local producers and sustainable

agriculture practices. Foodshed resilience requires a break away from the large industrial sector

and a move toward a community approach to how we produce food, and maximize the adaptive

capacities of the food system. When looking at a Foodshed one must consider the degree to

which the food system being analyzed is robust, redundant, and rapid. Community resilience

“rests on both the resources themselves, and the dynamic attributes of those resources

(robustness, redundancy, and rapidity)…Robustness is the ability to withstand stress without

suffering degradation. Redundancy is the extent to which elements are substitutable in the event

of disruption or degradation. Rapidity is the capacity to achieve goals in a timely manner to

contain losses and avoid disruption” (Norris et al. 2008). The “Methods” portion of this paper

will further discuss these dynamic attributes as they relate to the goat market.

Clearly, the United States is very dependent on the cattle industry. Any shock affecting cattle

would wreak havoc on beef and dairy industries nationwide. A realistic potential shock would be

an outbreak of mad cow disease, scientifically known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy

(BSE). Mad cow disease is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects adult cattle causing

uncontrollable jerky movements and eventually death of the infected cow.

“The US government announced on December 3, 2003, that a Holstein dairy cow on a farm in

Mabton, Washington State, was infected with mad cow disease (bovine spongiform

encephalopathy or BSE)…The discovery of this first case of mad cow disease outbreak in the

United States reverberated across the beef and cattle industry, causing serious alarm among

ranchers, processors, and consumers” (Devadoss et al. 2006). A large outbreak would

completely devastate the beef industry, because only healthy cattle may be slaughtered for meat,

as it is transmittable to humans through the consumption of infected beef. Although the milk

from an infected animal is still safe to be consumed an outbreak at a dairy farm would make it

difficult if not impossible to keep the cattle still long enough to be milked. With a well

established goat market, communities would be able to cope with a threatening mad cow

outbreak.

In this paper I will further discuss the current goat market its future outlook and suggest a

resilient approach to largely implementing goat markets as a new dominant food system. The

idea I hope people will gain from this paper is that there is a window of opportunity for

implementing all sorts of community farms, and slowly move away from our reliance on mass

produced food.

Methods

In order to expand a market that is relatively in its infantry, it will be easiest to think as small as

possible. A national mass goat market is neither practical in terms of resilience nor is it

sustainable. The potential for shock is always whether it is due to climate such as drought, or

density factors such as infectious disease. Therefore, it is best to focus on small-scale farming

and food systems. This creates more redundancy, and brings up the resilience index, because a

shock to one small farm or a small region of the country won’t impact the entire system as

negatively. Albuquerque, and other cities in New Mexico, should move toward promoting and

implementing community goat farms. (Peters 2008)

The first step Albuquerque would need to take in implementing community goat farms, would

be to identify areas in the community where there is enough space for goat farming. According

to The Goat Source –FAQs for Goat Raisers, 12 to 15 square feet of barn space is required per

adult animal. A full barn is not necessary, but the goats do need some place to go for shelter from

wind and precipitation. Allotting at least one acre of undeveloped lots in places of urban sprawl

would be ideal locations to start a community goat farm. City planners would need to, set

mandatory guidelines for how much land should be allotted in each neighborhood for these

farms, and write these rules into the zoning ordinances. “Today’s forward-looking city planner

thinks in terms of relatively large land areas rather than in terms of building lots. His thinking

begins with the region and the city and then works down to communities, neighborhoods, and

subneighborhoods.” (Goldston and Scheuer 1959). Based on this insight into the mind of a city

planner, the idea of community goat farms needs to be approached pro-actively and the concept

needs to be in place before the land has been zoned.

The second factor that must be identified before being able to implement community goat

farms in Albuquerque would be the current zoning codes. The current code that would allow for

community goat farms would be Residential and Agricultural Zone, Semi-Urban Area (RA-1).

This code permits commercial agriculture activity, provided the lot has an area of at least one

acre. This code also states that the number of (goats or sheep) may not exceed one per 4,000

square feet. This would allow for 10 goats per acre at any given time. (Mid-Region Council of

Governments of New Mexico) The question left to answer would be if new subdivisions would

be planned to follow current zoning codes, or if new codes would be written to implement

community goat farms in existing neighborhoods that wouldn’t currently allow for them.

Now the land has been zoned for community goat farms, the next step Albuquerque would

have to take in building these farms, would be to educate the general public on how to raise

goats. Ideally, everyone in the community, whether or not they have prior experience raising

livestock, would have the opportunity to be involved in the community goat farm process.

Something similar to a 4-H type of organization geared toward adults. This could be a for-profit

business that evolves from the creation of community goat farms where someone who knows

how to raise the animals teaches it to others. This could also be a non- profit quid pro quo among

community members, where some people who know about raising livestock do that part of the

process, while others artisans work on the production of the cheese, milk, meat, goat milk soap

etc. 4-H has proven to be a valuable life-skills building organization for the nation’s youth

according to a study from Purdue University (Rusk et al. 2003). “In particular, the members [of

4-H organizations] are competent in sportsmanship, safety, animal grooming, and animal

selection skills,” this 4-H competency has led to better decision making skills, problem solving

skills, people skills, and increased self confidence and sportsmanship among the participating

youth. These skills are not only important for youth however, adults who participate in a 4-H

type of organization would benefit from these skills as well in their professions and social lives.

The next effort in building a successful community goat farm would be to organize trade with

other types of farmers to fill in the nutrition gaps that wouldn’t be met from goat products (dairy

and protein) alone. This could be as simple as educating the community on the makings of a well

balanced diet, and inform them that they still need to supplement what food they are getting from

the goats with fruit, vegetables, and carbohydrates. Making the participants aware of Farmers’

Markets that sell local produce would further support the move toward sustainability.

Finally, in any functional market there must be some means of profit. The most resilient way

to achieve a profit through sales of goat products would be to organize more co-ops throughout

the city, ideally one for each community goat farm. However, just getting these products into city

co-ops would be a step in the right direction, if it was too challenging to begin more co-ops. The

main goal of the co-op would be to eliminate the middleman: industrial grocery stores. The co-

op would be creating a brand for these goat products that becomes known around the community

for its sustainable practices, and high quality. These products would be by the people, for the

people products, where profit is staying in the community to continuously support the farm.

Successful implementation of a resilient Foodshed will require extensive foresight and

planning. The infrastructure has to be devolved, which includes city planning and potential

zoning changes. Participants need to be sold on the value of this concept. This would entail

education on both how to goat farm and how to profit from goat farming. It is recognized that

true success will only occur if efforts are made to create quid pro quo relations are built between

community members and between different communities through farmers’ markets and co-ops.

Results and Discussion

In conclusion, there is evidence that the cattle industry could be heading in the wrong

direction in terms of heath, economics and eco-friendliness, making industrial cattle farming an

unsustainable source of beef and dairy products. Despite these negative factors, the United

States’ dependence on the industry is colossal, and a shock to the industry would bring extreme

devastation.

It is important to scale down from large agri-business when thinking in terms of resilience,

and move toward small, community oriented practices. These small community projects don’t

place so much trust in the masses, but instead are dominantly city and state run programs to feed

communities.

The following SWOT analysis of community farming demonstrates a positive outlook and

numerous benefits, but shows there is not a lot of infrastructure and policy in place to support

expansion of community farming without extreme intervention of state and city governments.

Strengths of Community Farming

Everyone can participate Knowing where food comes from Building life skills through farming and

community networking that can help you in other aspects of life.

Profits/Products stay within the community

Building networks

Weaknesses of Community Farming

A lot of planning and policies will need to take place to begin it.

Must have a large number of people

aware and on board. Infrastructure is not necessarily

available in all places. High start up cost

Opportunities for Community Farming

Can be implemented anywhere

Variety of opportunities (goats, chickens, produce)

Scale of farm can vary based on

resources and still be successful.

Threats to Community Farming

Too much government power

Powerful current industry Current economic situation

Resilience Index for a Community Goat Farm

Yes, Yes, Yes

Yes, Yes Rapid

Yes Yes, Yes, No

Yes Redundant Yes, No, Yes

Robust No Yes, No Rapid No, Yes, Yes

No Yes No, Yes Rapid No, Yes, No

Redundant No, No, Yes

No No, No Rapid

No, No, No

K= 1 Robust 0

2 Redundant 1

3 Rapid 1

Robust Redundant Rapid

K 1 2 3

k-1 0 1 2

2k-1 1 2 4

Score (0 x 1 = 0) + (1 x 2 =2) + (1 x 4 = 4) = 6

Above is a resilience index for a community goat farm. A community goat farm, or any small

scale food system is not robust because the nature of the size itself makes individual small farms

vulnerable to shock. The redundancy of community goat farms is key in the resilience index,

because the more there are within a city or other specified region, the less impact felt by

individual farms if one component were to fail. The rapidness of a community goat farm is

dependent on the buy in and participation of community members both in terms of city planners

and individual farmers. This factor makes it difficult to predict the exact resilience score, because

involvement could vary across communities.

SAFE –Sustainable Agriculture and Food Evaluation (Van

Cauwenbergh et al. 2007)

Similar to LEED certification in architecture, the concept of community farming could be

evaluated based on a SAFE certification scale. Some of categories that could be considered for

evaluation of a community farm may look something like this:

SAFE Category Comparable LEED Category

Undeveloped Land

OR Areas of a Town in need of

Revitalization

Sustainable Sites

Water Availability Water Efficiency

Materials and Resources Materials and Resources

Fossil Fuel Dependency Indoor Environmental Quality

For Sustainable Sites the SAFE category in evaluation of a community goat farm would be

undeveloped land or areas of town that need revitalization, since a successful community goat

farm must be incorporated into a city plan for zoning purposes. For Water Efficiency the SAFE

category is Water Availability, because SAFE is applied to livestock systems as well as produce

systems, the type of product being produced is dependent on water resources. Materials and

resources can be evaluated the same, looking at where the materials of a barn or shed of a

community farm come from. Are they recycled materials? Are they cheap or expensive to

access? Finally Fossil Fuel Dependency could be comparable to Indoor Environmental Quality,

because it relates to public health. In terms of a community goat farm fossil fuel dependency is

much less than that of a large cattle industry.

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