Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization has indicated that climate changes and population growth (9.7 billion people in 2050) are posing potential threats to global food and feed security. Goats have been important source of food (meat and milk) and provide social and economic benefits for millions of people. In the goat industry, feed accounts for about 70% of the operational cost. Further, due to the unprecedented climate crisis and droughts, feed shortages and rises in feed prices seem inevitable. These situations will have a direct effect on the operational cost, price of milk and meat, as well as farm incomes. Selecting more efficient goats will decrease the amount of feed an animal needs for a given level of performance and will improve farm profitability. However, because of feed intake measurement problems, improvement of feed efficiency in goats has been more challenging than for other species. With new and growing concept of precision livestock farming (PLF) and advances in internet (Wi-Fi), sensor technology, and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, reliable automated feed intake recorders have been developed. Today, the International Goat Research Center owns automated GrowSafe Feeding System that monitors feed intake and feed behavior of goats. Selection criteria based upon RFI will decrease feed costs and increase profitability. Thus, our research goals include developing feed intake (RFI) and feeding behavior parameters as selection criteria for highly efficient meat and dairy goats to produce offspring with better feed utilization efficiency and reduced environmental footprint.
Research Scientist: