The number of goat farms in Taiwan has totaled 698 as of the end of 2000, with the total goats of 112,554 or 161 goats per farm. The daily milk yield per goat was 1.7kg on average, and thus the annual production of goat's milk amounted to 30,006 metric tons with a self-efficiency rate of 58.1%. According to the same statistics, meat goat farms totaled 4,317, together raising as many as 202,491 goats or 290 goats per farm. The goat farming industry in Taiwan enjoyed an annual production value of NT$2.4 billion.
Thanks to the collective effort of the industry, the government and the academia, traditional goat grazing, mainly taking the form of a side farming activity in the early eighties, has gradually emerged as a specialized and commercialized operation. For more than a decade, commercial promotional activities that highlighted the medicinal and nutritional value of goat's milk and goat meat have successfully boosted market demand for related goat products, and consequently increased in the total number of goat on local farms. In the meantime, vast qualities of breeding goat imports, the research and testing effort on feeding and management, the provision of technical support, and the establishment of goat's milk processing plants, have together boosted the local goat's milk market, and contributed to the current prosperity of the goat farming industry in Taiwan. However, after the WTO entry, the relatively high cost in goat's milk and goat meat production is expected to pose a great challenge to local farmers.

Recent Initiatives and Achievements

1. Provided assistance to pasture and silage suppliers to help increase domestic fodder supply.
2. Assisted with ranch management and technical advancement to increase efficiency and reduce cost in an effort to boost profits for goat farmers.
3. Provided incentives to help readjust the lactation period of goats in order to increase winter yield and relieve summer surpluses.
4. A. Provided assistance with the establishment of goat's milk processing factories and the improvement of raw milk distribution, inspection and processing facilities.
5. Promoted a contracting system for goat's milk production and marketing.
6. Implemented a goat's milk labeling and certification system to encourage domestic milk plants to produce quality milk and to establish market segmentation between fresh milk and reconstituted or imported milk with an aim to protect consumers' rights.
7. Provided assistance with co-distribution and co-selling for meat goats, and supported the organization of public auctions to ensure an open and fair trading system and to develop a sound market mechanism for the goat industry.
8. Assisted with the improvement of pollution abatement facilities and promoted waste reduction and recycling on local ranches.

Future Plans and Tasks

1. Continue to promote quality pasture and silage supply and to develop a nationwide fodder supply system.
2. Readjust the use of crop lands and natural resources, and develop ecological dairy (goat) farming park zones to incorporate agricultural activities with other functions such as sight-seeing, education and living.
3. Assist goat farmers with career transfer and the disposal of low-producing and low-quality goats to help uplift winter milk yield and the overall competitiveness of the goat's milk industry.
4. Promote and implement the domestic goat's milk labeling program and to strengthen management and promotion efforts to help raise public awareness of the difference between fresh goat's milk and reconstituted or imported milk.
5. Assist with the establishment of goat meat markets in the northern parts of Taiwan to boost goat meat consumption.
6. Assist with the establishment of legal slaughtering houses that apply high hygiene standards for slaughtering, cutting, and packaging, with an aim to enhance the competitiveness of domestic goat meat products.
7. Develop local brands to help consumers distinguish domestic goat meat products from imported ones.