The Icelandic Ministry of Industries and Innovation has made an agreement with the Icelandic Genetic Resource Council to boost goat farming in Iceland. ISK 7 million (USD 57,000, EUR 46,000) will be invested in the project over the next three years, ruv.is reports.
This is in line with the government’s declaration that the goat should have the same position in the Icelandic agriculture system as the sheep. Increased financial support is one of the suggestions made by a task force appointed last spring to help save the Icelandic goat.
Other suggestions include systematic collection and storing of buck sperm, establishment of a database and direct support to goat farmers, as stated on the ministry’s website.
Numbering fewer than 1,000 animals, the unique Icelandic goat breed is at a risk of extinction. Recently, donations of ISK 10 million through crowd funding helped save the country’s largest goat farm Háafell in Borgarfjörður, which was looking at foreclosure.
