Raising New Opportunities in Fourth Creek

The Goat Patch Leads the Way in Expanding Canadian Goat Markets

Fourth Creek, Saddle Hills County

The face of agribusiness in Canada is evolving rapidly and new opportunities are waiting for those ready to meet the growing demands for new products.

In Fourth Creek, AB, Mallory and Shaun Kaiser and their children Kaz and Zak are seizing a golden chance to become leaders in the Alberta goat meat market by breeding a unique goat known for its hardiness and meat quality with their business, The Goat Patch.

“I realized while in university for physical education that I actually wanted to be involved in agriculture and help educate people about where their food comes from,” said Mallory Kaiser. “I had grown up on a cattle and grain farm, but by the time I was ready to get back into agriculture, the herd had been sold off.”

The Kaiser Family

At the time, Mallory and Shaun were newly married and settling into Hines Creek. They were looking to get back into livestock, but they realized the price of cattle was simply unaffordable. Then, at just the right time, Mallory heard a CBC broadcast about an upcoming goat conference, and their plans took a new direction.

“When I heard the president of the Alberta Goat Society talk about how high the demand for goat meat was globally, and how new Canadians were dominantly coming from places where goat was a large part of their cultural diets, I knew I wanted to hear more,” said Mallory.

In 2013, Mallory went to her first Alberta Goat Association Conference and her interest eventually turned into a mission. She learned about the Kiko breed, which had all the characteristics she admired about her family’s Black Angus herd, and she knew that was the breed for their farm.

“The Kiko originates from New Zealand and has such an interesting history and backstory. Because the official breed status began with a hard cull of any undesirable traits, the breed genetics are incredibly strong,” said Kaiser. “That is a big part of our breeding strategy now, which is to make sure only the most desirable traits survive.”

The Kaiser’s got their first herd in 2015 and started with mostly Boki goats (a cross between Boer goats and Kiko Goats) and a few purebred Kikos.

In the first few years, they worked on breeding out the characteristics they weren’t looking for, purchasing more purebred Kikos and heading toward a more ideal Kiko standard.

In fall of 2024, they imported four straws of semen from New Zealand to strengthen the Kiko genetics they had spent the better part of a decade building. Now, they are excited for spring births.

The demand for goat meat is growing alongside Canada’s diversity. According to the World Trade Organization, Canada imported almost 1.7 million kilograms of goat meat in 2021, which had an economic value of 18 million dollars.

Since 2021, the demand has grown substantially higher and is expected to see continued growth as more Canadians choose goat as a source of protein.

Mallory is now the president of the Alberta Goat Association and the vice chair of the Canadian National Goat Federation (CNGF), so understanding this market is a necessary part of her role. One of CNGF’s key objectives is to educate producers about the goat market.

Mallory says there are a lot of different holidays and preferences to consider when it comes to the demand for goat. Every cultural group looks for something different, so the producer decides what they want to specialize in.

“For example, for Chinese New Year, they want kids [young goats] between 60 and 80 pounds. For Ramadan, the Muslim community looks for weaned but still with milk teeth,” said Kaiser. “Greek Orthodox people look for three-month-old kids for Easter.”

At The Goat Patch, Mallory and her family have chosen to build relationships and establish markets with the Caribbean community. She says Caribbean Canadians mostly look for yearling intact bucklings, which works well with the Kaiser’s breeding program—allowing a longer growth period to determine which bucks show the strongest gene potential.

“We would like to expand our barn and eventually be kidding [breeding] twice a year to meet a more diverse demand as well as hitting our desired goal of having 100 does [females] in the herd,” said Kaiser. “We are so happy with our Caribbean customers and will continue to serve them, but we would love to offer different options to other cultural groups as well.”

Mallory says the Kiko’s unique horns are a showstopper and was one of the things that first drew her to the breed. What has kept her loyal to the Kiko is their hardiness and low maintenance of care. They have a high kidding rate and are noticeably invested in their kids, making them incredible mothers.

“I think the best advice I can offer someone looking to get into goats is to buy from reputable breeders who are willing to keep a good line of communication going after the sale,” said Mallory.

According to Mallory, there is a lot of room for growth in the goat meat industry in Canada, especially as there are growing trade deficits in the sale of goat meat.

To find out more about the Kiko goat breed and The Goat Patch visit thegoatpatch.com.

To learn more about the goat industry in Canada and the opportunities available, check out the Alberta Goat Association and the Canadian National Goat Federation websites.

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By Kelly Pippin | Photography submitted