KANGAROO’S virtues as a lean, nutritious meat might be catching on with Australian consumers, but the boom in roo numbers and their impact on farms across the State is anything but healthy.
Farmers across western NSW, in particular, are reporting widespread destruction and out-of-control numbers.
Their only option in many cases is now to fork out big dollars in extreme control measures just to remain viable.
At the core of the issue is last year’s snap closure of Australia’s only major export market, Russia – once a $180 million market taking 40,000 tonnes a year.
The trade had long been on again, off again, having been suspended between 2008 and 2012 and then again abruptly shutting down last year on the back of claims E.coli bacteria had been detected.
This has led to a deteriorating supply chain, including the closure of chillers, and roo shooters leaving the business due to the lack of profitability.
NSW Farmers kangaroo spokesman Ray Scott said the NSW industry had declined from 900 roo harvesters about two years ago to just 200.
The State’s kangaroo management plan sets an annual harvesting quota of about two million kangaroos from a total population of 17m (the State’s sheep population is 26m head).
However, Mr Scott said the December figures showed just 15 per cent (368,000) of the quota had been harvested.
“In the Western Division there are six kangaroos to every sheep,” he said.
“That means for every one productive animal you are trying to feed, there are six free-loaders.”
For most landowners (such as Lynette Dunn, “Bundong”, Coolabah, who is pictured with expensive new fencing constructed especially to help manage the issue) it is simply not practical to be out culling kangaroos at night on a wide scale.
Mr Scott wants red tape cut to make harvesting less expensive and more practical.
Federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce wants to see the industry grow into new markets, especially by encouraging China to remove its import restrictions, and to foster a new appreciation among Australian consumers.
“I have been trying really hard for years to get new export markets going – especially China,” Mr Joyce said.
“(However), when I was talking to people in China about kangaroo meat, they thought it was a sensitive issue, like eating pandas.”
Our domestic market consists mostly of pet food producers and a small amount of human consumption, mostly through supermarkets.
Australia currently eats 70,000 meals of kangaroo daily (6450t a year), which has grown more than 400pc in the past five years.
“All the fitness fanatics love the stuff,” Mr Joyce said.
“But we really need to widen the market... and bring it more into general consumption.”
Mike Foley
Senior journalist for The Land.
Senior journalist for The Land.
