FENCES and pens will translate to heavier, better quality carcases, according to goat industry boffins.
And now a new video series is showing farmers how to get it done
Meat and Livestock Australia has developed a new series of best practice videos about the Australian goatmeat industry to help boost productivity in the sector.
The first video in the series focuses on fencing requirements for goats and features goatmeat producers from across Queensland and New South Wales who manage a mix of enterprise types.
MLA’s goat industry project manager Julie Petty said the videos would be rolled out over the year to add to the expanding resources available to goatmeat producers.
“Topics covered in the series of videos include nutrition, profitability and target markets for goatmeat producers.
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“They also include commentary on why producers recommend others get into the industry, how to make the transition and why it makes sense to move away from harvesting goats and into semi-managed herds.”
In January Ms Petty said fencing goats was a sustainable way to boost carrying capacity, make more money per hectare, and make use of land that may not have been great for anything else.
“To stabilise goatmeat production in Australia and grow domestic and international markets, an increase in the number of goatmeat producers and volume of turn-off is needed.
“The rangeland goat is the major source of goats for Australia’s industry, accounting for approximately 90 per cent of production. Rangeland goats have traditionally been opportunistically harvested by producers but there is a shift to semi-managed production systems to increase supply and improve quality, carcase weights and consistency.”
MLA’s extension services to goatmeat producers have also been further boosted with the addition of an updated Parasite control module in MLA’s Going into Goats guide.
The online GiG guide has 12 modules that address different aspects of the goat production system, which can be accessed here.
Updated versions of the Goat depots and Nutrition modules will also be uploaded in the coming weeks.