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 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 is 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.

Mission of the Institute
The mission of the E (Kika) de la Garza 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. Innovative research, an efficient information dissemination system, excellent facilities, 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 Institute for Goat Research a recognized leader in the arena of goat production technologies.

Research Activities

• Research Farm
• Central Laboratory
• Research Areas
• Current Research Projects
• Experiments (Initiated in 2008 through 2012)
• Visiting Scholars and Students (2008 through 2012)
• Online Abstracts and Scientific Articles
• Past Research Projects

Nutrient Requirement Calculators
Technical Version Calculator
This Calculator is probably most suitable to individuals with some knowledge of ruminant nutrition and have reasonably accurate values for inputs, such as body weight, body weight change, milk yield and composition, clean mohair fiber growth, diet composition, etc. It is probably most appropriate for nutritionists, graduate students in ruminant nutrition, and extension personnel specializing in nutrition. This calculator reports energy requirements in MegaJoules, protein requirements in grams, and predicted dry matter intake in kilograms. This Calculator is based upon equations derived from research conducted at the Institute to develop expressions of nutrient requirements of goats published in a special issue of Small Ruminant Research (2004, Volume 53, Number 3) published by Elsevier Science. Several ancillary calculators are also available.

Producer Version Calculator
This Calculator is oriented toward extension agents and many goat producers in the United States. This Calculator uses English measures (i.e., pounds), and reports energy requirements in MegaCalories, protein requirements in pounds, and predicted dry matter intake in pounds. Perhaps more importantly, this calculator has default values and optional means of deriving inputs that may not be known. One example is the use of heart girth and genotype to estimate body weight. This Calculator uses the same equations as found in the Technical Version Calculator.

Foreign Language Versions
Technical Version Calculator translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish.