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By Jose G. Peña The total U.S. goat inventory as of Jan. 1 remained the same as last year at 1.2 million head, but the size of the Angora goat herd made a precipitous decline to 260,000 head, down 8.8 percent from an inventory of 285,000 last year and down 83.3 percent from an inventory of 1.56 million head in 1993. It appears that Angora goats were replaced with meat goats on a one for one basis this past year. The inventory of other goats, meaning meat goats, increased to 940,000 head, up 2.7 percent from 915,000 head a year ago but down slightly from 948,000 on January 1, 2002. The inventory of other goats began to outnumber the inventory of Angora goats in 1999, reached a record high of 1.041 million head on January 1, 2001 and has decreased about 100,000 head since then. Texas dominates the U.S. commercial meat goat industry with more than 90 percent of the inventory. While other states do not report the inventory of Spanish and other goats, industry representatives estimate an inventory of about 60,000 head in states other than Texas. Mohair Production Down With an Angora goat herd of 260,000 head and mohair production dropping to 1.88 million pounds in 2003, down 84 percent from 11.68 million pounds produced just 10 years ago in 1994 when it appeared that the industry would survive, it is going to be difficult to support and sustain a viable Angora goat industry in the U.S. The industry currently is being supported by a substantial accumulation of stocks stored in warehouses. About twice the amount of current annual production is being exported to countries such as South Africa and the United Kingdom, with the excess over production coming out of warehouse stocks. For example, 2.5 million and 523,000 pounds (clean) were exported to South Africa and the United Kingdom, respectively, in 2002 when U.S. production was estimated at 2.174 million pounds (greasy). What will happen to the industry when stocks are depleted? Mohair Prices Improve Slightly After dropping to record lows during the mid-1990s, prices for mohair made an excellent recovery in 2000, weakened during 2002 and part of 2003, but appear to be showing some signs of life. Since most of the mohair is being exported, the weakening of the U.S. dollar in terms of exchange rates has made U.S. commodities, such as mohair, more expensive to foreign importers and may be contributing to the sluggish recovery of the mohair market. It should be noted that the mohair price for 1997-2003 primarily reflects the weighted average price of mohair sales. Prices for fine (kid) hair have increased substantially during the last seven years, but little adult hair has moved through the market system. The U.S. mohair industry had hoped that the size of the herd would stabilize at a new working level after the termination of the wool and mohair incentive program in 1995. While there has been strong demand for fine hair and for young mutton goats during the past five years, sluggish demand for the bulk of the mohair (adult hair), the mid-summer 2002 mutton goat market weakness, and a very dry period during 2002 through the first five months in 2003 may have influenced a lackluster stabilization effort. Leading Mohair Producing States Texas continues to dominate the mohair industry with 84.6 percent of the herd, up from 82.3 percent on January 1, 2003, followed by Arizona with 11.5 percent and New Mexico with 3.9 percent. |
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