I don’t mean in the evolutionary or philosphical sense. What I mean is, yer prototypical American family farm has a goat or two amongst its animals. Why?
Now, the market for goat products (milk, meat) in the U.S. is negligible, so I don’t see goats as a “cash crop,” so to speak. They seem to be low-maintenance animals (like cats), so they might make good pets. But they’re also foul tempered and territorial (uh, like cats) and might not make good pets.
So why does Farmer Brown have a goat?
for felching?
No, actually…I Am Not A Farmer, but I believe they also eat weeds and tall grass and the like. Some towns employ goats to ‘mow’ the lawns along highways I’ve heard. Perhaps they’re keeping goats around just to keep things tidy.
But you’re right…they’re weird. Their eyes freak me out and my sister was once butted and slightly trampled by a goat at a seemingly innocent petting zoo.
jarbaby
To annoy other creatures.
Kids are cute, though. Sort of like kittens with horns.
Which, upon reflection says a lot.
But I digress.
I was bitten by a goose at the zoo as a child, but being trampled at the petting zoo, now THAT is cool.
Yeah, jarbabyj is correct. Goats are very good at mowing the grass, and as a garbage disposal. In the small cemetary where my Grandparents are buried, there was formally a goat that kept the grass low. It is far easier and cheaper than having someone come out and do it.
Which begs the question (and believe me, I’m begging), how big of a grassy area could one goat sufficiently maintain? And, what was this goat’s name?
I have to disagree. There are some farms that rake in huge amounts of money selling goat milk. If you’ll zip on down to your friendly neighborhood health food store you will find that fresh goat milk is about 3 times as expensive as cow milk. I think it’s also more expensive to produce, but I’m willing to bet the profit margin is higher. Some people are willing to pay that much because
1)they think it tastes better (I agree, but I don’t think it’s worth the extra price)
2)they’re concerned about antibiotics and hormones used in dairy cattle (I’m not)
or
3)they’re allergic to cow milk, and goat milk is less likely to cause problems
But a farm with just one or two goats probably doesn’t get any revenue from them. Many people with a few acres own a goat or two for their household dairy needs. Most families can’t finish off the 10 or more quarts of milk a cow produces every day. A goat produces a more manageable amount, 1 or 2 quarts a day.
There is also a limited market for goat meat (chevon), especially among immigrants. Goat meat is popular in Jamaica, some Spanish-speaking countries, Greece, and the Middle East.
The dominant protein in goat’s milk (casien) clusters in smaller aggregates than the protein (lactalbumin) in cow’s milk, which makes it easier to digest. Myself, I’ve never had any problem digesting cow’s milk, but this is a bigger issue with infants. Also, some people are allergic to lactalbumin but have no problems with casien. Goat’s milk and cow’s milk have similar levels of lactose, however.
Also they keep the grass down. And they’re an nice pet. I keep a cat, and she doesn’t produce milk or mow the lawn. Freeloader.
You missed the obvious answer… to make more goats!
An ex relative of mine has a small herd of goats that she breeds and then sells the offspring. It’s not a huge business… but it pays for itself AND the goats keep the weeds on her property down.
There is a whole community of people who breed and show goats and there are numerous breeds… some humerous (like the fainting goats) and they are cute when they are small.
Since you CAN eat them and you CAN milk them and they are easy to breed and are cute when young AND they keep down the weeds I can see why farmers have a few around.
While goats will suppress the growth of some weeds, they will not keep grass trimmed (at least to suburban standards). For grass trimming one needs sheep.
Low maintenance? To what standard? They need as much care as a household pet, although probably less in some areas than cattle. (Goats are cheaper to feed than cattle (and easier to castrate), but I don’t know of any cattle that need their feet trimmed regularly.) Dis-budding a goat is probably easier than dehorning cattle, but a lot of cattle are polled and I know of no polled goats. (Go look up polled if you’re wondering why Gallup or Harris would come to your farmlet.) Through the year, goat feeding is not a problem. However from November through May (the typical period for breeding and kidding), mama goats have to be watched closely for a number of nutritional deficits.
The overwhelming majority of members of the American Dairy Goat Association raise goats as a hobby. It is no worse a way to waste time and money than rebuilding cars, owning a boat, collecting whatevers, or building data centers in the basement to handle the latest video game.
A use for goats that has not yet been mentioned is as pets for larger livestock, particularly horses. Perhaps “companion” is a better term than “pet,” but the relationship between a horse and “its” goat often resembles the relationship between some humans and their pets.
(Horses are herd animals and solitary horses do better with a companion of some sort. Goats are large enough to be penned with horses and a lot cheaper than a second horse.)
A family that has only a few goats is engaging in a hobby (even if they sell some of the milk or meat). It needs a steady herd of 30 or more goats (at least in Northeast Ohio) to make money on a goat dairy. A working farm that does not have dairy cattle might keep goats for personal use. If you’re already buying feed and medicine and hauling away manure for horses, swine, sheep, or beef cattle, the goat expense won’t add much to your overall costs.
Certain breeds of goats can be used for pack animals, like donkeys or llamas. I saw some of these at the state fair and got a book about it. I want one.
I loving going for dim sum in a real Chinese restaurant for some yummy steamed goat intestines. Let me assure you that they do not taste like chicken (or cat, for that matter). 
I think that the actual answer to your question is that goats are great pets that are not practical in an urban or suburban environment. I grew up on over 100 acres of farmland. We had goats because they were cheap, low maintenance, and fun to have around. A baby goat only costs $20 or so. It can be a very tempting impulse purchase for the average rural consumer. It is true that goats are good at getting rid of tall weeds but this is mainly attractive because it makes them cheap to feed. Most people that own goats in the U.S. use them as a kind of mascot. We had a great goat named William that loved to climb onto the couch and watch the “Dukes of Hazard” with us every Friday night. You can’t beat that for companionship.
In Jamaica they serve goat intestines in a soup called, appetizingly enough, “Mannish Water.” They also cook curry goat, which is very good.
I was going to mention this. Back in the day, the stable where we kept our horse had a goat or two wandering about. On the sad occassions where a mare would either not survive giving birth or if the foal was stillborn, the goat made for a nice companion for the surviving horse. Actually, the goats there were nasty and mean and wouldn’t let people near them, but they got along great with their equine friends.
I havent had curried goat in ages. Here’s a recipe
And thanks for fixing the previous link Chronos. Must gett new typing fingers one day 
The purpose of Goats? “After all, this is about creating an independent comic strip.”