With prices for rangeland goat meat currently making headlines, it’s a good time to take a look into this unique industry.
While goats were originally domesticated in Australia with European settlement, the wild goats we harvest today bear little resemblance to their ancestors.
These goats have adapted to unique conditions in our rangelands and make up about 90 per cent of goat meat production.
Most rangeland goats in NSW are sourced from the western and central divisions.
Rangeland goats are hardy and can thrive in low rainfall zones and maintain high fertility in dry conditions.
Where opportunistic mustering and trapping have previously been hallmarks of rangeland goat systems, many enterprises are now moving toward managed or semi-managed goat populations.
The rangeland goat industry is dynamic and continually gaining strength. With changes in production systems and more market opportunities...we’re excited to see what 2018 will bring.
- Katie Davies
This allows for selection of animals on the basis of market specifications and provides greater certainty of supply for goat producers, processors, and our export markets.
Australia is the world’s largest exporter of goat meat and it might surprise you to know that the biggest market for Australian goats is the US, comprising 66 per cent of our exported goat meat.
Hispanic, Arabic and Caribbean communities in the USA are key consumers of goat meat and increasing multicultural populations provides great opportunities for the goat sector.
The growth in this market – and other goat markets internationally – is key in driving high goat meat prices, which have reached $7.50 a kilogram over the hooks this year. Taiwan, Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea and Canada are other large consumers of our goat meat.
Underpinning this access into international markets is the traceability of rangeland goats in Australia.
Unlike domestically managed goats, rangeland goats are not identified by individual eartags.
Like sheep, goats ate traced through a mob-based system, which is particularly important when mustering thousands of animals.
Retaining this traceability system is a key policy issue for the rangeland goat industry.
Keeping costs down is integral to maintaining our profitability and mandatory tagging is not viable.
Imposing such a requirement on the industry would not improve traceability outcomes and would only introduce additional costs in term of labour and tags, and present a workplace safety risk.
The goat industry is continually working to improve traceability and compliance, particularly in completing National Vendor Declarations.
We’re confident that the systems currently in place are rigorous and appropriate for our sector and we need to ensure that governments properly understand how the industry functions before seeking to impose conditions on our operations.
The rangeland goat industry is dynamic and continually gaining strength.
With changes in production systems and more market opportunities opening up, we’re excited to see what 2018 will bring for the sector.
- NSW Farmers’ goat committee chair, Katie Davies.