Meat & Livestock Australia is ramping up its support for the booming goat industry which is experiencing hot demand for its product
For the week of August 12, goat over-the-hook (OTH) indicators were recorded at an attractive 902 cents a kg carcase weight, an increase of 61pc from year-ago levels.
As goat producers developed an understanding of the value to be gained from retaining breeding does, there was additional sales channel emerging, resulting in increased competition between processors and restockers, MLA said.
Many goats are now harvested running semi-wild in arid pastoral ranglelands country.
Some goat producers might be familiar with the long-running sheep based Bred Well Fed Well one-day courses supported by MLA.
These hands-on workshops highlight the production benefits of superior genetics, plus feed management for improved reproductive performance and livestock productivity.
In coming months MLA will be trialling Bred Well Fed Well workshops for goat producers.
Workshop participants will learn how to analyse and plan a genetics and nutrition regime suited to their environment and markets to boost profitability.
Bred Well Fed Well for goats will focus on:
- how to use genetics to improve enterprise profitability
- how to develop a breeding objective
- the impact of doe nutrition on reproductive performance and profitability
- developing simple energy budgets for breeders
- practical skills such as condition scoring, feed budgeting and buck selection.
The workshops cost $75 per person (including GST) and will be advertised widely once locations and dates are set.