according to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics for 2004.The total goat population in the Philippines was 3.4 million heads with a slaughter rate of 1.9 million heads,these figures include backyard and commercial farms.Would be interesting to locate figures for 2007??The Department of Agriculture through its attached agency the LDC,has been working with local breeders to supplement and improve local stock.Australia is a known supplier of goats to the Philippines due to quality,price competitiveness,adaptability,quarantine status and proximity in terms of lead time.Pure breds and cross breds seem to be prefered.Opportunity areas in the Philippines goat industry include:
-boer goats for breeding
-dairy goats
-training and education (more vets needed)
-embryo transfer and artificial insemination (AI)
The demand for dairy goats include the more commonly sourced breeds of Anglo Nubians,Saanen,Toggenburg.Local producers are keen to improve local stock and are interested to learn AI,goat management and embryo transfer for the long term development of this industry.The Philippines need to straighten out its standards "export competitive" which will aid us producers in the global competition, in the international market place for our product.Alot of improvements have been made in this industry since 2004.The future looks bright for those willing to invest in the goat industry here in the Philippines.

Philippine Business News & Updates:
14 August 2007-according to the Department of Agriculture,the agriculture sector grew 3.5% in the first half of 2007.
January-September,2007-livestock subsector produced 2.06% more output this year.Total share in agriculture production was 13.08%.(hog industry grew by 2.39%),carabao and goat registered 3.41% and 1.83% increments in production.The subsector grossed P117.9 billion at current prices,or 4.3% more than last years record (2006).
This is significantly slower than the 5.24% growth experineced in the first half of 2006 Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap admitted,it might be difficult to attain the 4-5% growth target for the sector by yearend.
The livestock sector recorded a 2.5% growth.Agriculture posts 3.9% growth in (hog production),cushioned lower carabao,cattle and goat production,85.7 million metric tons (mt) of farm products,value of P887.6 billion,increasing by 8.6% from 2005s production value of P817.2 billion.Goat production also declined by 3.2% due to the delayed building of breeding stocks in the third and fourth quarters (goat shortage) of 2006.The livestock subsector for 2006:goat prices bounced back from 2005s negative growth and posted a 5.7% increase and dairy prices were 3.69% higher.Carabao and cattle prices increased by 7.06% and 4.15% respectively,Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agriculture Statistics.

The countrys goat inventory as of January 1,2007 was estimated at 4.04 million head,8.08% higher compared with last years headcount.Around 38% of the goat population were female breeders or doe,9% were male breeders or bucks,33% were kids,20% were classified as castrated male or other goat for fattening.Total supply of goat in 2006 was placed at 6.75 million head,an increase of 13% in comparison with last years level,of this number,37.5% or 2.5 million head were slaughtered for meat purposes.Total goat production in 2006 reached 74.82 thousand metric tons liveweight,a decrease of 3.20% from last years gross output of 77.29 thousand metric tons.
Department of Agriculture: