SOLID global demand and short supply in the wake of drought has kept goat prices at strong levels and will likely see a continuation down the pathway of semi-management.
Meat and Livestock Australia’s over-the-hooks goat indicator is sitting at 588 cents per kilogram carcase weight, up on the 548c/kg towards the end of last year.
While the hefty heights of 683c/kg reached in mid 2017 seem unlikely to be repeated, president of the Goat Industry Council of Australia John Falkenhagen said the goat market was still considered strong and there was a lot of optimism in the industry.
In South Australia some sales in recent weeks were in the vicinity of $6.40c/kg, he said.
“We are seeing steady progression towards semi-management as more and more exclusion fencing goes up,” he said.
“Also, the data being collected to provide more industry support is a real positive for the sector.
“Demand is certainly increasing, in line with general animal protein demand, and our challenge is really about continuous and consistent supply.”
According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ innovative goat industry data collation and tracking project, during the last financial year, 1.9 million goats were processed in Australia.
The project is quantifying and monitoring the number of goats supplied from each region in Australia, which had been a significant gap in the information available to industry.
It showed NSW supplied more than 65pc of the total goat production figure, with the vast majority from the rangeland of western NSW.
Producers in the Bourke, Cobar and Broken Hill regions mostly operate harvest enterprises, capturing goats from the wild population. Around 20pc operate a managed or semi-managed enterprise.
South Australian producers supplied about 16pc of the goats slaughtered nationally.
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
