of 2,786,901, while there were 411,997 units of bison product sold with a sales value of $5,168,768. “We have retail partners who have sold out of their goat products very quickly and restocked multiple times,” says Lori Dunn, Vice President of Retail Sales at TFI. “Our customers are impressed — sur- prised, even — by the demand for goat, not only among traditional goat consumers but new customers who are inspired by the pro- duct’s health and sustainability claims. We think that our fresh and frozen ground goat options, featuring on-pack ‘free range’ and ‘Halal’ callouts, will take that interest to a new level.”


Goat is currently found on 3.5% of U.S. menus, according to Datassential 2024. And while penetration is low, goat menuing is on an upward trajectory, +4% since 2020 and predicted to climb year-over-year from 2024- 2025, according to Datassential. Goat enjoyed 3% year-over-year growth in menuing incidence (the number of menu items featuring goat at restaurants that offer it) from 2023-2024. The Midwest saw the largest growth by region, while regional and independent restaurants also saw gains in goat offerings.


Datassential reports that 76% of con- sumers are aware of goat and 28% say


they’ve tried it. “With innovations in the pipeline de- signed specifically with foodservice oper- ators in mind, we expect continued momentum in goat menuing moving for- ward,” says Jordan Pickard, Vice President of Foodservice at TFI. “As more consumers try goat in restaurants and experience its mild flavor and versatility across a broad range of culinary applications, we think demand for goat can only grow.”


Thomas Foods International (TFI),


USA is a leading importer and processor of a comprehensive portfolio of premium proteins including Australian pasture-raised lamb and grass-fed organic beef, Grass and Grain Fed Angus Pure Beef, free-range goat, milk-fed Dutch veal, and all-natural exotic proteins. The company is committed to uphold- ing the highest standards of food safety, sus- tainability, and ethical sourcing practices. With a processing facility in Swedesboro, N.J., Thomas Foods, USA is a fully inte- grated cold chain operation, delivering and producing safe, fully traceable, high-quality meat products.


(This article is from Perishablenews.com. For more information about goat product offerings and availability, please contact sales@thomasfoodsusa.com.)


It’s time for summer parasites


By Dr. Steve Hart, PhD


Goats have more worm problems than most farm animals since they originated in the desert where it was too dry for worms, there- fore, they do not have as strong of an im- munity against worms as other food animals. Worms require warmth and moisture for growth and development. For a few species of worms, warm winter days are adequate, but most like the summer since they are cold- blooded and are more active in warm tem- peratures, especially when there is rain. The barberpole worm (Haemonchus


contortus) is the most dominant worm in the Southern U.S. because of the long, warm summer and adequate rain. The barberpole worm has a high reproductive rate and sucks blood to support the high rate of reproduc- tion. The barberpole worm is also present in the Northern U.S. clear up into Canada, but the barberpole worm season is shorter, lim- iting the amount of damage.


The barberpole worm likely causes 80 percent of the deaths in goats due to worms in the South. However, the cost of lost ani- mal production, which is less visible, ex- ceeds the cost of dead animals. With the warm season approaching, we need to plan on doing things to prevent the barberpole worm so we have less lost production, ani- mal deaths and treat fewer animals. Good websites for education include


the www.wormx.info of the Southern Con- sortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control and https://attra.ncat.org by ATTRA, Appro- priate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, an organization providing information for sustainable agriculture. Worms, like wealth, are not equally distributed to all individuals as 20-30% of the goats carry 70-80% of the worms in a herd. If you get rid of these animals that are contaminating pastures, it will help everyone else in the herd.


How do you identify those animals car- rying the most worms? You keep track (records) of the animals that get dewormed the most and cull these animals. Compare yearlings to other yearlings, does raising twins to other does raising twins etc. It will


12 Goat Rancher | April 2025


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