Foreign producers of goats have played a major role in the Minnesota goat meat marketing channel.  Figure 11 shows that most of the goat meat imported into the United States over the last ten years has been imported from Australia with limited amounts from New Zealand.  Because goat meat imports make up a significant portion of the total goat meat consumed in Minnesota, information about the amount and value of imports is very important.

Figure 12 shows the number of imports and the value of these imports.

The long range trend of goat meat import values has been upward at a rate of $0.06 per year, although values have begun to decrease since the early part of 1998.  Based solely on historical import values, domestic producers are faced with a value ceiling near $1.10 per pound.  When these values are adjusted to include transportation and other relevant costs, the price ceiling created by foreign producers is near the $1.50 per pound mark (Strategic Performance Group 1999, Ahmal 1999).  The permanency of this ceiling remains to be seen depending on the influence of the July 1999 presidential temporary import relief action.

   Link to Figure 11 - U.S. Imports of Goat Meat
   Link to Figure 12 - Value of U.S. Goat Meat Imports