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Producers Might See Higher Prices for Sheep, Goats
Another year of drought conditions led to fewer sheep and goats in Texas, according to the January inventory reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Economists from Oklahoma State University and Texas A&M University noted that prices for sheep and goats have the opportunity to increase in 2024 based on decreased production numbers.
Lamb overview
The number of sheep totaled 655,000, down 4% from 680,000 head in 2023.
Breeding sheep totaled 515,000, down 5% from last year.
Breeding ewes one year old and older were also down 5%. The January USDA report showed 405,000 head in Texas.
Replacement lambs in the Lone Star State were also reported down from last year.
Texas wool production totaled 1.25 million pounds in 2023, which is down 19% from 2022.
The total value of the state’s wool production was down 10% from the previous year to $2.83 million. The price per pound averaged $1.90 during 2023, 12% higher than the average for 2022.
Nationally, the inventory of all sheep and lambs totaled 5.03 million head, down 2% from last year.
Goat overview
Goats are down 3%, with a total inventory of 786,000 head compared to 812,000 last year.
Meat and other goats accounted for 89% of all goat inventory with 700,000 head.
The Angora goat inventory increased 2% to 60,000 head, and the number of milk goats increased 13% to 26,000.
Mohair production increased 14,000 pounds to 329,000 pounds, and the average clip weight for 2023 was 5.7 pounds.
The price per pound of mohair decreased 40 cents in 2023 to $8.60. This brought the total value of the state’s mohair production to $2.83 million in 223, which is down $6,000 from 2022.
Nationally, the number of goats in the U.S. totaled 2.47 million head.
The breeding goat inventory totaled 2.03 million head, and market goats totaled 439,000.
In the U.S., milk goats totaled 415,000 head, Angora goats totaled 105,000 head and meat and other goats totaled 1.95 million head.
The 2023 kid crop was 1.52 million head for all goats.
USDA survey overview
A random sample of U.S. producers was surveyed to provide data for both the sheep and goat estimates. Large producers were sampled more heavily than small operations.
