About the Goat Research Center

E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research

The mission of the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research is to develop and transfer enhanced goat production system technologies, with impacts at local, state, regional, national, and international levels.

The Institute strives to fulfill this mission through excellence in a results-driven, highly productive research program; an effective, client-oriented extension approach; and dynamic international activities that stress development and human capacity building. Cutting-edge research focuses on providing new information relevant and usable by producers and researchers alike. Enhancing information exchange and producer skill levels through hands-on workshops, field days, and web-based information and interactive components is the goal of the extension program. Care for goat producers worldwide is engendered through international activities that encompass research, human capacity building, and village development. These programs, along with knowledgeable and caring personnel and a dedication to the improvement of the lives of goat producers around the world, have made the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research a recognized leader in the arena of goat production technologies.

The Research Farm of the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research provides the livestock, facilities, and support personnel that are used in research and extension activities. The Farm currently has approximately 320 fenced acres of land, most of which is used for grazing or harvested forage production. Physically, the Farm can be divided into four components. The 120-acre Main Farm is located on the west side of the Langston University campus and is home to the Alpine dairy herd. The 160-acre South Farm, located 3/4 of a mile south of campus, houses most of the Spanish, Boer, Boer crossbred, and Angora goats. The North Farm area consists of about 30 acres and is situated just north of the Main Farm. The West Pasture area encompasses roughly 30 acres used primarily for grazing studies. While the Institute's goats are largely raised on pasture, there are numerous research trials that employ the excellent pen facilities of the Research Farm. There are individual Calan gate feeders at both the Main and South Farms and an automated feeding system at the South Farm that allows housing in groups while still gathering needed individual intake data. The pen facilities at the Main Farm are used mostly for lactation studies, and those at the South Farm for the annual Meat Goat Buck Performance test and for meat goat research at other times. There are also metabolism crate facilities for nutrition/physiology research at the North Farm area. Many pastures at the Main Farm, South Farm, and West Pasture area have been cross-fenced for flexibility when conducting grazing research. A creamery, for dairy goat milk research and technology transfer, is housed at the Main Farm.

The Main Farm also includes feed processing facilities and an assisted reproductive technologies laboratory. In addition to general laboratory facilities, there are special laboratories for milk analysis, fiber analysis and stable isotope analysis. The milk analysis laboratory also provides analysis for the goat Dairy Herd Improvement (DHI) program. Our DHI program services goat milk producers throughout the United States. Research results are published in appropriate journals for goat research, including The Journal of Animal Science, Small Ruminant Research, Journal of Dairy Science, Canadian Journal of Animal Science, Sheep and Goat Research Journal and Animal Feed Science and Technology. Research data are often summarized in articles in the quarterly newsletter, which is published by our goat extension program.