New Publication Shares Profitability of the Iowa Dairy Goat Industry

Feb 12, 2026

By Larry Tranel

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach dairy team has conducted a 2024 financial study examining the profitability of dairy milk production in Iowa. The findings are available in a new publication, “Profitability of Iowa Dairy Goat Production in 2024,” which can be downloaded from the ISU Extension Store.

Dairy goat producers are encouraged to review the findings and consider how they can use the data to strengthen decision-making and financial performance on their operations.

The study surveyed 16 Iowa dairy goat operations to determine the profitability of their farms. Like most industries, both higher-and-lower-profit producers were grouped by profit to benchmark their incomes and costs on a per milking doe basis. Additionally, many financial ratios were noted, along with their labor efficiencies, on a per-full-time-worker basis.

Larry Tranel, dairy field specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach and publication author, noted that Iowa is a leading state for dairy goat production and genetics, and that profitability is integral to meeting demand.

“There is a thirst for more dairy goat education and an unfilled demand for more goat milk in Iowa that fuels a need for increased understanding of the profitability of milking dairy goats,” he said.

Source : iastate.edu

Video: Four Star Pork Industry Conf - Back to Basics: Fundamentals drive vaccine performance

At a time when disease pressure continues to challenge pork production systems across the United States, vaccination remains one of the most valuable and heavily debated tools available to veterinarians and producers.

Speaking at the 2025 Four Star Pork Industry Conference in Muncie, Indiana, Dr. Daniel Gascho, veterinarian at Four Star Veterinary Service, encouraged the industry to return to fundamentals in how vaccines are selected, handled and administered across sow farms, gilt development units and grow-finish operations.

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