Goat Rancher

08/31/2026

Do you have an upcoming show, sale or other goat-related event? List it now in the Goat Rancher Calendar of Events. Listings are FREE. Simply e-mail your event name, date, location and contact information to [email protected].

08/31/2026

Slaughter goat markets for the week of August 24–31, 2026, show firm overall demand driven by steady ethnic and holiday harvest interest, despite localized drought pressures and climbing input costs.

Regional Highlights
• South / Southeast: Receipts at regional auctions remained steady. Demand for kid goats was good to very good, with active bidding from local buyers. Pasture conditions varied due to late-summer dry spots, keeping lighter weight classes moving to feedlots or immediate harvest.
• Mid-Atlantic / Northeast: Strong buyer turnout at regional markets like New Holland and Virginia sales. Heavy demand was noted for heavy slaughter kids and older bucks, with ethnic market preference maintaining a premium on quality Selection 1-2 stock.
• Midwest: Moderate offerings at regional auction barns with steady undertones. Buyers showed strong interest in uniform lots of meat-type kids (Boer and Kiko crosses).
•
Slaughter Goat Prices (Per Pound, Live Weight Estimates)
Prices reflect Selection 1–2 mixed kids and slaughter classes reported across regional auction summaries.
Weight Category Price Range (Per Pound)
20–40 lbs. (Kids) $2.40 – $3.10 / lb.
40–60 lbs. (Kids) $2.20 – $2.85 / lb.
60–80 lbs. (Kids) $2.00 – $2.55 / lb.
80–100 lbs. (Slaughter/Yearlings) $1.75 – $2.30 / lb.
100–150 lbs. (Heavy Billies / Does) $1.35 – $1.90 / lb.

08/24/2026

During the August 17-24, 2026 reporting period, slaughter goat markets showed steady regional volume with kids averaging $350.00–$440.00 per hundredweight (cwt) and heavier slaughter billies/bucks reaching up to $525.00–$615.00 per cwt equivalent depending on flesh condition and regional demand.

Regional Auction Price Averages (Per Cwt / Live Weight Equivalent)
• Northeast / Mid-Atlantic (e.g., New Holland, PA area):
o Slaughter Kids (Sel 1-2): $360.00 – $435.00 cwt
o Slaughter Bucks/Billies: $410.00 – $560.00 cwt
o Slaughter Nannies/Does: $180.00 – $275.00 cwt

• Mid-South / Southeast (e.g., Columbia, TN / Central region):
o Slaughter Kids: $340.00 – $415.00 cwt
o Slaughter Yearlings/Wethers: $320.00 – $380.00 cwt
o Slaughter Does: $150.00 – $225.00 cwt

• Upper Midwest / Central (e.g., Kalona, IA / regional barns):
o Slaughter Kids: $330.00 – $400.00 cwt
o Slaughter Billies: $380.00 – $490.00 cwt
Regional Market Highlights

• Supply and Demand: Overall receipts for sheep and goats at major regional auction rings remained light to moderate. Buyer participation was steady, though selective based on muscle thickness and dressing percentage.
• Weight Class Spreads: Heavier, well-conditioned meat-type kids and young wethers captured top bids, while light or under-conditioned consignments faced significant price discounts across both Southern and Eastern sales.

08/24/2026

SEEKING DONATIONS!
William & Cecelia Erkens Benefit Sale
www.herdbuilderproauctions.com
September 14, 2026

On Monday 8/16/2026 William Erkens survived a severe accident with a truck and trailer at his property. What started as a normal work day getting ready to leave for work, resulted in a crushed pelvis, nerve damage, spinal fractures and major physical trauma. He now faces an extensive recovery process involving medical care, rehabilitation, and physical therapy.

As a self-employed business owner, William’s inability to work leaves their family facing significant financial strain. His wife, Cecelia Erkens (Knott), is taking time to help him in every way during this critical healing period. Cecelia and the Knott family at Boston School Manor Farm have been deeply involved in the registered Boer goat industry for many years.

We are currently seeking donations for an online sale to benefit William & Cecelia. Please reach out to Jeremy Sanders or Olivia Rush via Facebook Messenger or phone (numbers below) if you would like to donate an item(s). THANK YOU!

Jeremy Sanders (918) 697-4469
Olivia Rush (215) 589-4435

08/24/2026

READ IT NOW!
The digital edition of the September 2026 Goat Rancher (plus more than 180 archived issues!) is available for viewing! This issue is our annual Spanish Goat Edition!
Check it out here:

https://www.modernpubsonline.com/Goat-Rancher/September2026/index.html

BUNDLE & SAVE!
The digital edition is only $14.99 a year. Now you can bundle your subscriptions for your print magazine and the digital edition and SAVE! For details, visit the Goat Rancher Store at https://goatrancher.com/store.php

08/21/2026

Grazing the Heartlands is just around the corner.

With registration closing September 11, there are three weeks left to join us for this year’s bus tour through South Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. Over the course of the tour, we’ll visit four operations, each offering a different look at grazing and the relationship between people, livestock and the land.

• At Pasque Hill on Beaver Creek, we’ll explore the importance of healthy grasslands and what it takes to work together to protect and preserve these landscapes for the future.

• At Amo Creamery, we’ll see how grazing is incorporated into a working dairy operation.

• At Hochstein Ranch, we’ll explore 1,000 acres of native prairie in Northeastern Nebraska and learn about managing this distinctive landscape.

• And at Jessen Ranch, we’ll learn about a grazing operation shaped by generations of history, with roots dating back to the Homestead Era.

Along the way, there will be time to visit with fellow producers, ask questions, and share ideas as we travel from one operation to the next.

If Grazing the Heartlands sounds like a good fit for you, we’d love to have you along.

Registration closes September 11, 2026Register at:

grazing, bus tour, NatGLC,

08/19/2026

08/18/2026

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW!
If you received a renewal notice for your Goat Rancher subscription and haven't renewed yet, you'd better hurry. The cut-off is noon Friday, Aug. 21, if you want to receive the September 2026 issue in the mail.

This is our annual Spanish Goat Special Edition. Read about the many different bloodlines within the Spanish breed and learn how the very first Spanish goats traveled from the rocky hills of Spain to the New World. Renew or subscribe online now at www.goatrancher.com.

Other articles include:
• Steve Dahnke becomes the first goat producer inducted into the Indiana Livestock Breeders Hall of Fame.
• Sale reports from the American Spanish Goat Association Premier Sale and the Heritage Kiko Showcase.
• Did sheep and goats teach early humans to live together peacefully?
• Goat meat is a new alternative for petfood makers.
• Your weathered feed buckets and troughs may be depositing microplastics onto your farm.
• Plus Calendar of Events, Breeders Directory, market reports and much more!

Goat Rancher magazine has been serving the meat goat industry for more than 30 years. The monthly magazine provides news of upcoming events, reports on major production sales, producer profiles and fun features like goat meat cuisine (cabrito) and family goat photos. Our monthly columnists answer qu...

08/14/2026

Sterile flies are the ultimate New World screwworm (NWS) eradication tool. Along with other critical tools, the sterile insect technique is a proven method to fight this pest.

Working in collaboration with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the Texas Military Department , over 700 million sterile NWS flies have been dispersed in Texas to prevent further spread, protect the rest of the state, and avoid impacts on the rest of the nation.
Learn more about the sterile insect technique here: http://bit.ly/4fD2269

08/14/2026

A federal prosecutor just won a guilty plea for rigging cattle auctions. First one ever in the bovine Artificial Insemination business — and DOJ says the investigation is still open. https://bit.ly/4xtY9Xn

$1.6 million in cattle over five and a half years. Sounds like volume. It isn't. At premier-sale prices that's as few as eight head.

Here's how it ran: the buyers agreed in advance who'd win. On sale day the designated loser either didn't bid at all, or threw one in to lose. The room watched what looked like a contest. It wasn't one.

We pulled four premier sales from 2018 through 2024. Top lots brought between 4.3 and 7.5 times the sale average. At that end of a catalog, price isn't set by a market — it's set by the last two bidders standing. Take one of them out and there's nothing underneath to catch the fall. That's why eight head is enough to be worth a federal case.

DOJ called him "the first defendant" in an "ongoing investigation." Read those two words again.

If you've consigned a top lot in the last six years — how many buyers were genuinely bidding at the end?