Grants for Raising Goats
Goats provide meat, wool and dairy products to people around the world. The hardy animal is capable of eating a wide variety of foods. The qualities of the goat make goat farming a profitable enterprise for farmers in a range of circumstances.
Future Farmers of America
Future Farmers of America members who are in grades seven through 11 can apply to the organization for grants to support their projects to raise goats. The Supervised Agricultural Experience Grant program provides funds to teens to create their own projects to learn about farming. Goat projects can include working on a goat farm or raising your own goats. Applicants should submit their projects in the Specialty Animal Production category. Each application must include a photograph of the project and a completed application form that is signed by the applicant's advisor in Future Farmers of America.
Beginning Goat Farmers
You can apply to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for a grant to support a new farm or ranch if the people who will operate the business have less than 10 years of farming and ranching experience. As of 2010, the Institute's Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program awarded about $19 million annually to eligible private and public entities to run beginning farms. This was done in an effort to bring younger farmers into the industry to replace those who are about to retire. The program is open to applications from late October to late December.
Goat Farm Innovations
If you have an idea for improving the way that people raise goats, consider applying for a grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. The program gives annual Farmer Rancher Grants to established farmers and ranchers so that they can implement their own ideas in their businesses.
International Projects
People in developing countries can raise goats as a way to provide for their families and generate income. Some international programs fund goat raising projects at the community level as a way to support developing countries at the grassroots level. For example, the United Nations Development Program and the Global Environment Facility sponsor community grants through the Small Grants Programme. From 2007 to 2008, the program gave grant funds to a project that supported local goat farmers in Pakistan. The project had a double effect: it improved conditions in rural Pakistani communities, and it also contributed to the recovery of the population of the threatened Kamori goat.
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