Goat meat became the primary red meat consumed by the majority of the world population after the domestication of livestock. The goat’s versatile eating habits and many products (milk, pelts, manure, fiber, and meat) made it a useful animal for diverse populations and regions. Its small size and temperament made it easy for any family member to handle. Today, many subsistence farmers still use goats as a low risk savings account. Goats cost far less than larger ruminants and multiply quickly. In a drought or other catastrophe, extra goats can be sold as needed, at least part of the herd often survives, and herd numbers rapidly recover.
Goat meat is the authentic meat for many ethnic dishes. Meat from young goats is tender and flavorful. Older goat, particularly male goat, has a coarser grain but is far less pungent than mutton, with a flavor similar to beef. Goat meat is a healthy meat choice. It is lean and rarely marbles (marbling is when fat is deposited as flecks within the muscle). Instead, goat fat is deposited around the internal organs to provide energy and protection against starvation. During meat processing, this organ-associated (visceral) fat is removed with the internal organs. Some studies indicate that goat fat has a lower percentage of the “bad” saturated fats than other red meats. Like other lean meat cuts, most cuts of goat are traditionally cooked at low heat or with moisture or marinating.
Goat meat consumption is on the upswing in the United States. Today’s immigrants often bring with them a tradition of eating goat meat. Goat meat may be an important part of their holiday celebrations. Its fine flavor and low fat content make it attractive to health conscious consumers. The slaughter numbers at USDA inspected facilities increased more than threefold from 208,000 goats in 1991 to 647,000 goats in 2003. Imports from our largest importer, Australia, increased from approximately 3 million pounds in 1990 to 17 million pounds in 2003. Assuming a 33 lb carcass (the average carcass quoted by most wholesaler), this equals approximately 515,000 more goats.
Increased consumption is driven by 1) the popularity of goat meat with the diverse ethnic groups that immigrate yearly to the US and 2) burgeoning culinary interest in authentic ethnic foods and lean red meats. According to the 2000 US Census, approximately 10% of the US population is foreign born with about 51% of first generation immigrants coming from Latin America and much of the remainder identifying themselves as Muslim. Most immigrants settle initially in metropolitan areas making it relatively easy to concentrate marketing in these areas. The Northeast US accounted for only 4.5% of the total US goat population in the 2002 Agricultural Census. However, due to the high concentration of immigrants in Northeast cities, the same region accounted for 48% of the goats slaughtered in USDA inspected slaughterhouses. The low income base of many newly immigrated families, particularly refuges, may suggest that they will be attracted to cull animals and to frozen, imported goat meat. However, as families become established in the US, they become more upwardly mobile and financially secure. Even people on tight budgets opt to spurge on fresh, local goat for weddings, funerals, and holidays.
Australia and New Zealand (NZ) supply a major portion of the imported goat meat sold commercially in the US. Most of the goat meat imported from Australia is harvested from extensively managed “feral” (semi wild) goats and slaughtered at modern, centralized in-country slaughterhouses specializing in lamb exportation. Carcasses or “six packs” (boxed as 6 primal cuts) are frozen and transported by ship to the US. The quality is inconsistent and profit is highly dependant on the exchange rate between US and the Australian/NZ currency, decreasing when the US dollar weakens. For example, the current (2005) low value of the dollar is less advantageous to Australia exports and helps to encourage our domestic production. A benefit of imported, low value, year round product is that it keeps families in the habit of consuming goat meat. However, a growing portion of Australian and NZ goat meat is available as flown-in Cryovaxed fresh carcass and retail cuts from export slaughterhouses approved by the USDA. United States goat farmers need to increase their market expertise, infrastructure, and product availability to compete with fresh imported product.
In addition to production costs there are also costs associated with loss of markets. If you are selling fat goat kids to a local slaughter house and one of them has a big CL abscess then you have probably lost that market. If you are selling breeding animals locally to farmers and word gets out that after buying one of your does several farms experienced abortion storms then you have probably lost that market. If you are selling nationally or internationally and one of your does tests positive for any of the federally or internationally regulated diseases (e.g., Brucella, Tuberculosis) you have just been removed from that market.
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