Goat farming is popular for many reasons. For starters, it’s a hardy creature that obtains market weight relatively quickly. Furthermore, it’s in demand as a meat, fibre and dairy product in the form of goat’s milk and cheese.
Fetching between R 38 – R 58 per kilogram in May 2025, aspiring or established farmers can venture into goat production. Should you be interested in something other than meat production, goats such as Angora goats offer mohair production opportunities (mohair is what Angora goat fur is called in the textile industry). Additionally, the South African Goat Milk market is estimated to reach USD 185 million in the next few years.
Choosing Your Breed
Knowing what you are going to farm for will lead you to selecting the right breed. This is vital because not all breeds a good for all types of production.
Popular meat breeds for South Africans include the Boer goat, Savannah and Kalahari Red.
Investigate what the breed’s characteristics are. Ideally, you want a breed that is hardy and adaptable so it can survive most climates and weather conditions. You will also want to know what its production rate is: How often does it reproduce, how long is gestation, and how long does it take for an animal to reach market weight.
Choosing the Right Land
Goats require space. To succeed in commercial goat farming, you will need enough land so the animals may live comfortably without health risks. Consider approximately 60 square meters of grazing land per goat. For any shelter, such as a shed, you need to calculate roughly 2,5 square meters per goat. The shed needs to provide good shelter from rain and sun, while also protecting the flock from wind and rain on the sides. Your grazing land needs to be adequately fenced, too, because goats have a knack for scaling fences and escaping.
Feed
All animals need free access to plentiful, clean water so they may quench their thirst to their heart’s content. Additionally, grazing in pastures might not be enough to keep your animals fit. You will need to budget for additional feed costs. These may include grains, hay, commercial goat feeds, salts and minerals. Your goat farming business plan should take into account the feeding costs.
Animal Identification
It’s vital that the goats are all marked as your animals. Common ways of marking animals with identification are ear tags, tattoos and notching. All of these methods have the potential to be removed when animals are stolen, but they still serve as viable ID. Depending on the type of identification method you use, specific regulations will apply as to how and where the identification may be placed.
Record-keeping
Whether it’s financial records or breeding records, it is important to keep this information up to date.
Financial records may be self-explanatory. Keep track of all purchases and sales, such as feed, consumables and the sale of stock. You must also record any other expenses such as water and electricity, salaries, transport or even the cost of accounting software.
Educate Yourself
When you start in goat farming, you must educate yourself on the needs of your animals. This means what the best type of feed is, what pests and diseases your livestock are at risk of, how to treat your livestock, and best practices for animal handling.
Read information about the health of goats and familiarise yourself with how to breed goats. You can also consider taking a livestock management course.
Take Care of the Business
Your goat farm needs to run like a business, which means taking care of it like a business. You will need to create a budget for all your needs before you start farming. Factor in prices for renting land, purchasing livestock, building a shed, buying feed, paying salaries and covering other running costs. This will also help you determine how much money you need to start your agriventure.
Next, you will need to register your business, obtain a tax number and ensure you comply with all the relevant legislation that the tax regulator expects.
This is not all that you need to know to start farming with goats, but it is the basics to start you on your way. Once you have all the above information covered, you are sure to turn your goat production into a profitable business.
