Using nationwide survey data, we investigate U.S. meat goat producer preferences and willingness to pay for meat goat breeding stock attributes. Discrete choice experiments were employed, and mixed logit and latent class models were used for analysis. Results showed that producers preferred animals that were highly masculine/feminine, had good structure and soundness, and were of the Boer breed, whereas they preferred fewer animals that were older, of Kiko and Spanish breeds, and priced higher. Significant preference heterogeneity was found among the respondents. Larger-scale producers had greater preference for high masculinity/femininity, good structure and soundness, and Boer bucks.

As the result of phosphorus being identified as the most harmful pollutant, government regulations introduced in the Netherlands in the 1990s to reduce environmental damage from livestock wastes used phosphorus content as the marker criterion. This subsequently led to reductions in the amounts of phosphorus included in animal feed compounds. Particularly in the case of broiler breeder and broiler grower diets, it was concluded that increased mortality, increased morbidity and other adverse effects on performance were largely the result of insufficient dietary phosphorus. Measures taken have included on-farm addition of supplementary phosphorus and calcium and adjustments by the feed industry. In general, levels of performance have now been restored. However, it is concluded that more research on optimum phosphorus levels is desirable, particularly as producers have to bear the cost of the residual phosphorus in the poultry manure produced.