WASHINGTON - May 1/02 - SNS -- The past decade has seen steady growth in global goat meat demand, says Charles Batten, President of the US Sunbelt Goat Producers Cooperative, though markets in the United States have not shown similar growth.

Batten suggested this will change as livestock producers in the southern United States increase goat production levels to escape the impact of low prices for traditional crops such as cotton.

A recent report from the USDA notes goat meat is low in fat and cholesterol and high in protein. It contains about a sixth as many fat grams, and the same amount of protein, and pound for pound, goat meat had about the same calories as chicken with a fourth less fat.

Exploring the issue, reporters with the Knight-Ridder Tribune discovered Boer goats were imported to the US from South Africa about nine years ago, and were now being bred with Spanish goats to produce a faster-growing, larger meatier goat.

Despite the advances, production in the U.S. covers only a third of demand. Most of the balance is supplied by Australia and New Zealand. Goat meat is mainly consumed by ethnic Asian, Hispanic and Arab populations.