Goat meat, Beefbank and plant-based ingredients: Ag news in brief

Meat & Livestock Australia's chair Alan Beckett gave an optimistic overview of the goat business at the organisation's recent annual general meeting.

He said goat carcase weights were increasing on the back of improved seasonal conditions.

"In 2021 the goat herd matured, with many producers moving from opportune rangeland harvesting to managing breeding farms," Mr Beckett said.

"On the price front, over-the-hooks offerings for goats continue to hold premiums to those paid for sheep and lambs.

"Australia remains the largest exporter of goat meat despite it being a niche part of many diets.

"The United States is our largest market, taking 60 per cent of exports."

Manufacturers of plant-based protein have outlined a seemingly ludicrous situation of having to re-import Australian-grown wheat for their products.

Speaking at the senate inquiry into labels on vegan foods that use livestock terms and images, Kjetil Hansen, from Deliciou, spoke about having to import key ingredients from overseas.

Deliciou's overseas supplier imports Australian wheat, processes it and then sends it back to Australian plant-based protein makers.

Mr Hansen described the situation as a 'huge lost opportunity' and said now was the time to invest in processing of plant-based food materials in Australia.

So many farmers would benefit, he said.

Fellow plant-based manufacturer Nick Hazell, founder and chief executive officer of v2foods, said he was shocked to find that protein extracts, concentrates and isolates which are the building blocks of alternative protein are not made in Australia.

"We do grow great legumes and pulses but no one has felt the need to invest in manufacturing in Australia up until now," he said.

He believes Australia can quadruple the amount of high protein soy it produces from current levels as the plant-protein sector grows.

His company was forming partnerships so that the soy can be grown and processed in Australia, something which he said involved hundreds of millions of dollars of investment.

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WELL-KNOWN Queensland beef producer Bim Struss has joined the board of Beefbank.

Mr Struss has under his belt more than a decade of representing the cattle industry at both state and federal levels. He has chaired both marketing and animal welfare committees nationally and presently sits on the policy council advising the Cattle Council of Australia board, along with the Agforce board that represents in excess of 6000 farming families throughout Queensland.

Beefbank says it will be making announcements next year around a national campaign for more beef to help bring relief to many thousands of people who are in desperate need of food assistance.

Over 120,000 people each week receive food support from charities around Queensland alone.

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