An Examination of the Tennessee Goat Meat Industry: Structure, Conduct, and Performance and Growth Opportunities
Abstract
Goat meat is a significant source of protein for millions of consumers across the world. In the United States goat meat is popular with traditional consumers of the product. However, a review of existing literature indicates that the meat goat industry might be lacking in the kind of structure that exists for the beef, poultry, and pork industries. For the purposes of this analysis the focus will be Tennessee. The objectives of this study are to (1) examine the structure of the goat meat industry in Tennessee, (2) assess the performance of the goat meat industry in Tennessee, and (3) examine the conduct which includes the channels for marketing and growth opportunities in the goat meat industry in Tennessee. Primary and secondary data was used in accomplishing the objectives of this study. Face-to-face interviews of 47 Tennessee meat goat producers who participated in selected goat auction markets were used in collecting the primary data presented in this study. Secondary data from existing NASS, USDA, ERS, and Census of Agriculture publications were collected and analyzed. Descriptive and quantitative techniques including means, frequency distributions, chi-squares and t-tests were applied to data collected. Results from the analysis of data collected showed that the meat goat industry is unstructured in comparison to it rivals. This lack of structure allows for no sustainable performance or assessment. The channels for marketing are not utilized to capacity, which impedes the growth of the meat goat industry. The future may be promising if strategic methods such as Enterprise Budgets and Reporting are implemented which will be discussed later in the text.
Subject Area
Agriculture|Agricultural economics
Recommended Citation
Allen M Denkins,
"An Examination of the Tennessee Goat Meat Industry: Structure, Conduct, and Performance and Growth Opportunities"
(2015).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI1592019.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI1592019