No kidding, goats are on the syllabus

When we think of universities taking discoveries into the wider world, software, medical discoveries and machinery are the sort of products that spring to mind, while goats tend not to figure.

But Illinois University's extension programme, which provides community outreach education, has published a report on how to farm the animals for meat.

The authors say that interest in commercial goat farming has increased dramatically over the past few years, spurred by demand for the meat from a growing ethnic minority population in the state.

The report includes research on religious holidays likely to increase demand for the meat, information about the traits of different goat breeds and advice on marketing a goat farm.