To say goats have been the saviour in this drought for pastoralists in far western NSW is an understatement.
A B-double of goats is worth $150,000 while 100 goats means the difference of whether a farmer can buy a load of hay (30 tonnes) to feed his sheep next week.
At the start of the year the price of goats was $5.85/kilogram over the hooks.
By April 19 it was sitting at $7/kg and had smashed the 2017 record of $7.50/kg on May 6 this year with $7.80/kg.
Just four days later prices reached $8.50 and they didn't stop there.
On the morning of May 11 the prices were $8.80/kg but in a matter of hours that day it changed and jumped to $9.20/kg.
That month the prices hit 'uncharted territory' reaching $10.50/kg over the hooks leaving the industry gobsmacked with no one predicting it could go this high.
For around six months it sat around that mark until now where it's dropped down to around $9/kg.
But many are waiting for the market to correct itself back to $5/kg - a sustainable price for the supply chain - which doesn't look like happening in the foreseeable future.
At Broken Hill John Blore from Silverton Goats said there had been a push-back in the price in the United States - Australia's main export market - with some processors dropping down to $9/kg.
"Goats used to trend along the same lines as mutton around the $5/kg to $6/kg mark so these prices have certainly been good for producers," Mr Blore said.
"I picked up 100 goats from a bloke this week, which will buy in another load of hay, so goats have certainly been buying a lot of hay to feed Merino sheep this year."
Mr Blore expects the prices to stay strong on the back of low numbers.
"There is still demand regardless of the high prices," he said.
As a result of tough seasonal conditions in the 2018-19 financial year, 1.57 million goats were processed in Australia, which was 20 per cent less than the previous financial year, according to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).
Pastoralists' Association of West Darling president Lachlan Gall, from Coogee Lake Station north of Broken Hill, echoed Mr Blore's sentiments saying the overall goat population was way down from the highs of a couple of years ago.
"And at times they have been a higher value than any other commodity," Mr Gall said.
"It's been a real saviour for people in the far west, it's assisted greatly in them being able to stay in business."
Meat and Livestock Australia goat industry project manager Julie Petty said the state of the industry was a mixed bag with the overall supply down due to drought and an increasing number of producers choosing retail breeding stock if they had feed.
"Long term this should lead to growth, which is what we want," Ms Petty said.
She said a reduction in slaughter numbers occurred in each of the three major processing states, which were Victoria, Queensland and South Australia while the numbers of goats processed in NSW increased and numbers in Western Australia were steady.
But while NSW supplies over half of the goats processed in Australia, Ms Petty said there was a reduction in the numbers of goats supplied from NSW properties.
The number of goats supplied from South Australia and Western Australia also decreased compared with 2017-18. But she said goats supplies from Queensland properties increased, year on year.
She said this increase in supply had been driven by:
- Restocking from NSW.
- Increasing adoption of a herd building approach to management.
- Improved seasonal conditions (in some areas).
- Producers considering goats as an alternative to cattle.
"NSW is still in a horrendous season as you know. Rain is the only thing that will fix that and once it rains it will be very interesting to see how people then chose to restock," Ms Petty said.
She said Queensland was growing (though from a very low base in some regions) due to rain in March and recent follow-up rain as well as roadshows promoting the industry.
"The condition of the animals obviously depends on where they are coming from, those who've had rain in Queensland are going to be sending off heavier animals," she said.
She said the ongoing challenges facing the industry was supply.
"Once the season breaks in the major production areas, we're talking to producers about crunching the numbers and looking at how they would incorporate goats more permanently into their businesses (if it's suitable)," she said.
"Wild harvest is a diminishing option for most people as the goats just aren't there. That means you have to start thinking longer term and put them behind wire."
She added there were also many opportunities to be gained from starting a controlled joining program, which was more concentrated kidding and predation monitoring and less losses at mustering due to mis-mothering.
Stephen Bignell from NSW Farmers' said other challenges facing the industry included retaining tag-free movements for rangeland and dairy goats as well as increased processing of nannies and young goats.
