Missouri Now Second In Nation In Meat Goat Production

Missouri’s meat goat population increased in 2023, putting the state’s population second in the nation. The annual Sheep and Goats report released last week by USDA found that 77-thousand meat goats now call Missouri home, a one-thousand head increase from a year ago. A majority of states witnessed a decline, including Oklahoma by 10 percent, elevating Missouri to second on the list. However, the state’s population remains a far cry from Texas, who remains first with 700-thousand goats on hand. Nationwide the population was down three percent at one-point-nine-five million. Meanwhile, Missouri’s milk goat population was down five-hundred head at 97-hundred, running contrary to the slight uptick nationally at 415-thousand head.

Sheep populations in Missouri were down five-thousand head, starting out the year at 107-thousand. 86-thousand were held for breeding while 21-thousand were destined for market. Missouri now ranks 13th in the nation for sheep production. The state’s lamb crop held steady at 81-thousand despite an additional two-thousand ewes on hand during the past year. Wool production edged lower by one-thousand pounds to 279-thousand, despite three-thousand fewer shorn sheep at 47-thousand. Wool prices held steady at 35 cents per pound, still the third cheapest rate in the nation ahead of Iowa and Minnesota.

Nationwide the sheep population was down 100-thousand at five-point-one-three million, split between three-point-six-seven million kept for breeding and one-point-three-six million destined for market. A total of three-point-zero-three million lambs were born in 2023, down two percent year-over-year, while wool production was down 569-thousand pounds at 22-point-seven million.