Starting Goat Farming Business Plan (PDF)

Goat farming is a lucrative animal husbandry business. Goats are mainly reared for their meat, milk, fibre, manure and skin hides. The goat meat is hugely popular amongst many people the world over. Goats are generally hardy thus making goat farming relatively less tasking. Their hardy nature also contributes in lowering production costs of the goat production business. This is because goats can thrive even under the harshest of circumstances, food and weather-wise. Goats can even thrive with the most low-cost and minimalist housing possible. To build a sustainable, profitable goat farming business, you require sufficient knowledge of how to efficiently raise the goats, good business management skills, and a good goat production business plan. This article will outline how to start the goat rearing business, and the goat farming business plan – PDF, Word and Excel.

Goat farming is a lucrative business project that is providing income for a lot of livestock producers. There are some important things you need to consider before you setup a goat production business. You need to gather the correct resources, decide on the size of your gattle farming project this includes the number of goats; location of the goat production business, as well as your target market. These decisions will be affected by the amount of capital you have, and the size of your target market. If you do not have a lot of startup capital, you can always start small and grow your goat breeding project overtime. You also need to carry out market research (Who are you going to sell the goats to? At what price?) and write a goat farming business plan before you start the project.

Selecting Land for Goat Farming Business

You obviously require land for the goat farming business.  There are some factors that you have to consider when selecting land for goat production business. A large enough area must be available for erecting the necessary goat pens. It is advisable to locate the project nearer to good roads as that will help minimize costs. This will also enable the farmer have easy access to and from the goat farming project. Does the location offer proximity to a reliable source of clean and fresh water? Your choice of land must also factor in the presence of a favourable climate. Is the land space easy to fence right round to ensure the goats are secure? This is important for two main things. One, goats are adventurous and tend to easily escape when they figure out a loophole. Two, if improperly fenced, goats become vulnerable to predators. Being able to escape also makes them vulnerable to predators. Fencing is strategic in that it provides an additional layer of security for your goat farming business. The assumption is that you would have setup secure housing for the goats. During the day when the goats are roaming around the fence will be keeping them secure. When indoors (usually overnight), the goat housing and the fence essentially become two layers of security.

Water logging or flooding is not good for the goats. You need to pick a land space that enables easy runoff. The ease of fencing also depends on the nature of the terrain in question. That is why it is imperative that you should choose a land space characterised by a flat to gentle slope. You must consider the availability of pastures – goats require pasture to graze on. Ideally you want a land space big enough to be segmented. This segmentation will be essential for having a goat rotational grazing regiment.  You should divide the pasture into different parts. To avoid over usage of pasture and the growth of less desirable forage, you should rotate the pastures where your goats graze on. This means that you should allow your goats to graze on one pasture while the other pasture is resting. The pasture should have various types of pasture plants or grasses. This will increase the food value and help to meetup all types of necessary nutrient requirements for goats, leading to profitability of your goat farming business plan. Your goat farming business plan should take into account the cost of purchasing or leasing the land.

Housing For Goat Farming Project

Goats are so hardy that they can thrive whilst staying in the open day and night. However, in order to build a successful goat farming business you must house them. Housing for goats serves two core purposes namely, security and protection from extreme weather conditions. The location of your goat housing must be elevated and be where dryness can be maintained all the time. This is all central to ensuring flooding is not possible since it is not good for the goats. Any build-up of water or moisture increases the chances of disease breakouts. That same elevation is also pertinent in protecting the goats from predators. The floor or bed of the goat housing must also be maintained dry at all times. Ventilation and adequate natural lighting is important for your goats so factor that in when designing your housing. The goat shelter must be well-ventilated, and should be easy to clean. Poor ventilation is bad to the health and performance of your goats. Extreme temperatures can reduce the productivity of goats. Poor ventilation may also lead to circulation of harmful gases which can cause respiratory problems to the goats. This also implies the housing must be big enough to allow free goat movement inside.

Materials that can be used for construction of goat housing include wooden poles, bamboo poles, bricks, cement and concrete. You can always figure out how to blend these together depending on what you have. In principle of course the aim is to use cost-effective yet robust materials. You must also segment your goats as well. Have separate goat housing units or spaces for pregnant goats, nursing goats, weaned goats, diseased goats, and the rest of the goats. You just have to bear in mind that you must allow more space for bigger goats. The bigger the goat, the bigger the living space it needs. The costs of constructing the housing should be included in the goat production business plan.

Equipment For Goat Production Business

Goat farming requires both basic and specialized equipment. It is obvious you need feed and water equipment. Your feeders can be according to the type of feed in question. For example, you can have separate feeders for hay, grains, and so on. Water trough or containers can be makeshift or commercial ones. You will also need other handy implements such as forks, wheelbarrows, pallets, buckets, shovels, scales, thermometers, and the like. Depending on the nature of your goat farming operations you may need specialized equipment. Examples of these are castrators, drenchers, and hoof trimmers. The goat farming business plan should include the costs of acquiring the equipment.

Breeding Stock For the Goat Farming Business

To start keeping goats for profit, you require breeding stock. The breeding stock consists of male goats which are known as bucks, and female goats which are known as does. When choosing breeding stock for goat farming business, you should be very careful of the health history of the goats. It’s advisable to purchase the breeding stock from goat farmers who have a good reputation in the goat production business. The goats which you select should be strong with an overall appearance of good health. Request to see the records of the breeding stock which you want to purchase. The growth potential of your kids will depend on the nature and quality of the parent stock. Thus it is of great importance to buy a good goat breeding stock from reliable goat farmers. The goat farming business plan should take into consideration the cost of buying the breeding stock.

Breeds of Goats

Goat breeds have different meat characteristics. There are goats that are best for meat production, milk production, or both. Focus on purebreds, request for comprehensive records, and physically inspect the goats when buying. Some of the important attributes to look for are high reproductive rates, good maternal ability, zero physical defects, good feed efficiency, and disease resistance. There are various breeds of goats which are used in commercial goat farming operations. The popular breeds for goat meat production include the Boer goats, Spanish breed, Black Bengal, Kalahari Red, Rangeland among others. The Boer Goat is a highly productive meat breed and considered a superior breed.  This type of breed is originally from the Eastern Cape in South Africa and it’s more expensive compared to other breeds.  A good Boer buck that is between 6-12 months can service 25 does while a full-grown buck that is 13 months old can service 50 does in a year. The Boer Goat is considered superior because it has a good bone structure, large body size, grows fast, heavy weight and can easily adapt to a wide range of pastures. Some farmers cross breed an superior breed e.g. the Boer Goat with indigenous breeds. This is in order to get the right quality of offspring with good meat quality, resistant to diseases, health and adaptable to various pastures.

Feed for the Goats

Feed is the largest cost of running a goat farming project. The most economical source of nutrients for meat goats are browse and pasture. In some cases, pasture and browse will be sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements required by meat goats. Goats are versatile, inquistive and energetic in their feeding habits. Goats can adapt to different environments. They can consume over 80 different kinds of plants. Goats are browsers by nature, they are not grazers. However, they will also eat grass. A suitable area for the goat farming project should ideally have low bushes. Goats enjoy browse materials like trees, bushes, twigs and leaves.

Even though goats will browse and feed on pasture, you will have to give them supplementary feed for you to be profitable in your goat farming business. Enough pasture might not be available throughout the year due to seasonal changes. To enable goats to grow fast and reach their full growth potential in a short time, you will have to give them supplementary feed. There are various kinds of supplementary feed you can give to your goats including hay (lucernes), grains (e.g. wheat, oats, maize, sorghum, barley etc), commercial goat feed, minerals and salts. The goats also require sufficient water. The goat farming business plan should take into consideration the feed costs.

Pastures and hay tend to make the biggest chunk of a goat’s diet. Grains should not be a major part of the diet of young goats. This is because bloating can occur due to indigestion. As goats grow older though, it becomes essential to include grains in their daily diet. The grain component in the total diet should range from roughly 10 percent to 16 percent. As for garden or home residues, make sure they are not rotten or too sugary. Concentrates are a common part of the supplementary feeding of goats. Their composition varies and your choice would depend on the nutrients your goats are lacking.

Capital for a Commercial Goat Farming Project

Starting a goat farming business requires capital. The capital is required for constructing the goat housings, purchasing the breeding stock, purchasing supplementary feeds and other costs associated with running a goat farming business. The amount of capital you need for your goat rearing business will depend on the size of your goat farming project.  Your goat farming business plan should clearly outline the money required to start and operate a goat meat production business.

You can get a loan from the bank, or funding from investors, to use as capital to start your goat farming business. If you plan to raise capital from investors and a loan from the bank, you need a good goat farming business plan. If you don’t have access to investors and bank loan, you can use your personal savings and start small, and grow your business overtime. Goat farming is very profitable, so if you reinvest the profits you get, you can quickly grow. Even if you are not planning to get a loan, you should still get a goat farming business plan to guide you in starting and operating the business. It is essential for you to have a goat farming business plan before you venture into the goat farming business, so that you know all the costs involved and you make an informed decision.

Management And Labour for a Goat Farm

The number of employees you require for your goat farming project will depend on the size of your goat farming project. You will need goat keepers who will be responsible for feeding the goats,  cleaning and disinfecting the goat housings,  and other duties. There may also be need for finance and marketing team, depending on the size of your goat production business. Your goat farming business plan should take into account the salary costs for all the people you are going to employ. 

Marketing Plan

Goats can be sold as kids, fully grown goats, breeding stock, slaughtered whole or weighted portions. Your marketing plan can exclusively focus on attracting prospects to your goat farming location. This is because on-site or on-farm selling of goats is cost-effective. This approach can draw all sorts of clients from individuals to businesses entities. It is still strategic to market on other platforms. For instance, livestock auctions have proven effective in marketing goats. The advantage of livestock auctions is that mobilizing prospects is not your headache. You simply sign up to be a part of it and you tap into a concentrated pool of potential clients.

All this does not nullify the importance of approaching or engaging potential clients. You can target butcheries and other relevant food preparation or processing entities like this. The idea is to look for a way to score clients where you are on a retainer arrangement. Farmers markets are also central to marketing goats and so are events such as agricultural shows. Do not forget there are strategic ethnic and religious groups you should target. Examples are Hispanics and Muslims, respectively. All these efforts must be streamlined through the use of digital marketing strategies.

Market

The market for goat meat is very huge and is ever increasing. The annual global demand of goat meat is 5 million tonnes. That’s a lot! You can supply goat meat to abattoirs, local butcher shops, retailers, hotels, supermarkets, restaurants, wholesalers and individual consumers.  Goat meat has to be sold whilst it’s still fresh, thus you should locate your goat farm close to your market. The goat production business plan ought to include a proper marketing plan to use in your goat business.

Goats can be kept for meat, milk, hair and fiber uses. This article and business plan is for goat meat production. The export market for goats is very huge! As you grow your goat farming business you will be able to export the goat meat to other countries.  The largest importers of goat meat include United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, United States of America, Caribbean, South Korea, Angola,  Taiwan, China, India, Middle East, European Union, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei.

Pre-Written Goat Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel): Comprehensive Version, Short Funding/Bank Loan Version and Automated Financial Statements

For an in-depth analysis of the goat farming business, we encourage you to purchase our well-researched and comprehensive goats business plan. We introduced the business plans after discovering that many were venturing into the goat meat production business without enough knowledge and understanding of how to run the goats business, how to keep the goats, lack of understanding of the financial side of the business, lack of understanding of : the industry, the risks involved , costs and profitability of the business; which often leads to disastrous losses.

The StartupBiz Global goat farming business plan will make it easier for you to launch and run your goat meat business successfully, fully knowing what you are going into, and what’s needed to succeed in the business. It will be easier to plan and budget as you will be aware of all the costs involved in setting up and running the goat farming business.

Uses of the Goat Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

The goat farming business plan can be used for many purposes including:

• Raising capital from investors/friends/relatives
• Applying for a bank loan
• Start-up guide to launch your goat production business
• As a goat farming business proposal
• Assessing profitability of the goat meat production business
• Finding a business partner
• Assessing the initial start-up costs so that you know how much to save
• Manual for current business owners to help in business and strategy formulation

Contents of the Goat Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

The goat farming business plan include, but not limited to:

• Marketing Strategy
• Financial Statements (monthly cash flow projections, income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, break even analysis, payback period analysis, start-up costs, financial graphs, revenue and expenses, Bank Loan Amortization)
• Risk Analysis
• Industry Analysis
• Market Analysis
• SWOT & PEST Analysis
• Operational Requirements (Including technical aspects of how to keep and rear the goats, feed requirements etc)
• Operational Strategy
• Why some people in goat farming business fail, so that you can avoid their mistakes
• Ways to raise capital to start your goat farming business

The Pre-written goat farming business plan package consist of 4 files

1. Goat Farming Business Plan – PDF file (Comprehensive Version – 84 Pages)
2. Goat Farming Business Plan – Editable Word File (Comprehensive Version – 84 Pages)
3. Goat Farming Business Plan Funding/Bank Loan Version- Editable Word File (Short version for applying for a loan/funding – 39 pages)
4. Goat Farming Business Plan Automated Financial Statements – (Editable Excel File)

The business plan can be used in any country and can be easily edited. The financial statements are automated. This implies that you can change eg the number of goats, selling price of  the goats etc, and all the other financial statements will automatically adjust to reflect the change.

Click below to download the Contents Page of the Goat Meat Production Business Plan (PDF)

Get the Goat Farming Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

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The Pre-written business plan package (PDF, Word, and Excel) costs $30 only!

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The business plan package is a zipped compressed file containing the PDF, Word and Excel documents. To open the package after downloading it, just right click, and select Extract All. If you have any problems in downloading and opening the files, email us on shop@startupbizglobal.com and we will assist you.

We wish you the best in your goat farming business! Check out our collection of business plans , and more business ideas.

Goat Farming Business Frequently Asked Questions