Population trends of goats in Serbia and Croatia from 2012 to 2021

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the state of goat production and the population trends of goats in Croatia and Serbia from 2012 to 2021. Goat keeping in both countries suffered immensely in the second half of the 20th century as a result of the infamous Law on Prohibition of goat keeping, which was unique of its kind and which led to the almost complete annihilation of the goat sector in countries which were at the time part of Yugoslavia. With the abolition of this law, both countries have made an effort to revive goat production by importing highproducing breeds, crossbreeding domestic breeds, herd book keeping and government funding. In the past ten years, Serbia has experienced a significant rise in the number of herd book goats and a decline in the total number of heads of goats. The Republic of Croatia had a positive trend in the total number of goats which increased by about 10.6%, and a higher percentage of herd book goats compared to the total number of goats compared to Serbia. However, Serbia has about 2.7 times bigger total goat population. Total production of goat milk and meat in both countries is considered low when seen from the perspective of Europe, as only 1.3% and 0.5% of European goats are raised in Serbia and Croatia, respectively. In Serbia, production systems are still predominantly extensive to semi-intensive, and therefore production potential of animals is not exploited to the maximum. Also, Serbia has weak and unstable markets for goat milk and meat, making this production unpredictable and varying. Even though the goat sector has come a long way since its downfall in 1954, it still has a long way to go to become sustainable. On the other hand, in Croatia, goat milk has been a sought-after product in recent years, and farmers have achieved fair prices, establishing the goat dairy industry. After Croatia joined the European Union, goat farmers gained access to several significant sources of financing, making it the most important event for the goat sector in Croatia.