Why buy from local sheep producers? Did you know, that the vast majority of lamb consumed in the United States is imported from other countries? In fact, in 2015, the U.S. ran a 53:1 ration on imported vs exported lamb. Think about that. For every one million pounds of lamb exported from the U.S., over 53 million pounds were imported. Of course, exporting is not the only measure of the health of the local lamb economy. It is, however, one indicator in determining the market place for locally grown, readily available lamb. Has it always been this way?
Number of sheep farms and lamb inventory
Over the past 200 years, the sheep population in the United States has come full circle. In the early 1800s, the U.S. produced around 7 million head of sheep (note: this was mostly for wool production). This number peaked in 1945 at around 56 million head, but has steadily declined since; plaining out at less than 7 million head in 2003. (Source: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/general/aib/aib787.pdf).
The greatest decline has happened in the medium to large scale operations, with much smaller flocks are on the rise. It is important to understand that what this means in reality is that for the most part, flocks in the U.S. now consist of less than 25 sheep. In fact, 84% of all ‘sheep farmers’ have flocks that are below 100 head in the United States. (Ibid) Both the number of sheep farms and the number of sheep produced has dropped significantly in the past forty years.
In addition to these declining numbers, the number of sheep producing farms is the lowest in the southeastern part of the country.
Distribution of US Sheep by State
Interestingly, with the declining production of American raised sheep and an increase in lamb and mutton consumption (per capita), imports of sheep has grown dramatically.
In 1975, lamb and mutton imports were 27 million pounds, accounting for only 6 percent of the total U.S. lamb and mutton consumption. However, with the growth of the ethnic market and the growing niche market of fine dining restaurants focusing on lamb, imports have surged to since the mid-1980s, with very sharp increases since 1994. In 2002, imports of lamb and mutton were 11.2 percent higher than in 2001 and 500 percent higher than in 1975. (Source: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/ers/sheeptrends/aib787.pdf p19 )
Import – Export of Sheep
The Import/Exports graph above details the total amount of lamb and mutton imported and exported by the United States from 2006 to 2015. In 2015, around four million pounds of lamb and mutton were exported from the United States. (source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/194707/us-total-lamb-and-mutton-imports-and-exports-since-2001/ )
Australia and New Zealand are the world’s primary lamb and mutton exporters and are, by far, the largest producers of lamb sold in the United States. Lamb imports account for nearly one-half of all U.S. lamb consumption, with about 65% of U.S. lamb imports coming from Australia and 35% coming from New Zealand.
As has been noted by a number of authors, farmers, and industry specialist, more needs to be done to promote and educate a broader audience regarding the health benefits of consuming lamb (Read more on that here), the economic importance of supporting local producers, and, of course, the deliciousness of our products. Unfortunately, to date, attempts to promote and differentiate U.S. lamb from other meats have met with limited success. The U.S. sheep industry primarily focuses on high-value cuts for the domestic market, and has neither capitalized nor developed export markets. Much of the lower value meat is rendered or goes into pet food. What little is exported is mainly to Mexico in the form of whole mutton carcasses.” (Source: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/nass/general/aib/aib787.pdf)
What can you do to help? Education and experience begin at the local level. By providing venues for a broader audience to experience the value and taste of lamb, we can slowly begin to change hearts and minds – one customer at a time. Marketing, promotion, and exposure are surly important. Becoming an ambassador for locally grown, readily available lamb should be something we are all interested in.
Do you have some ideas on other things we can do to promote and expand local sheep farming opportunities? Be sure to leave your comments below for everyone to see. We are all in this together, and together, we can make a difference.
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