Meat and Livestock Australia

12 Marketing and promotion The prominence of the goat industry has risen dramatically over the last five years, largely as a result of sustained price rises. This culminated in 2017 with the over the hooks indicator approaching $7.00/kg (MLA Market reports, 2018). Media coverage about these historic prices brought the goat industry to the attention of those within and outside of the broader agriculture sector. This outlined the substantial presence of the industry, particularly in western NSW, and also presented the opportunities available to producers. Such substantial coverage also provided a platform for industry to promote goatmeat to consumers. A great example of this is the Landline episode that aired in November 2017 (Adams, 2017). As covered by Landline, MLA has recently developed a series of videos to display preparation methods for goatmeat. These will aid in raising awareness of meal options involving goat and promote domestic consumption. A MLA funded study exploring the opportunities for growth and value adding in the domestic goatmeat industry was published in early 2018. This identified an estimated potential growth of 360 t and $13.3 million per annum (Jenkins, 2017). Particular consumer segments identified as targets for this growth were young families, adventurous cooks, millennials, empty nesters and professional couples. MLA is now seeking co-investment from relevant private businesses to begin developing the recommendations outlined in this study (Jenkins, 2017). The varied and evolving history of goats in Australia has resulted in a range of perceptions being held by the public and stakeholder groups. In the context of an emerging industry centered largely on the harvest of wild populations, this has caused some conflict. Most contention arises between government and industry bodies. Government agencies have a responsibility to acknowledge and address the risks posed by wild goat populations, while industry groups are working to develop markets. Such markets may be sensitive to perceptions of goats being a pest species. Greater alignment between government and industry is now being seen in the promotion of managed goat enterprises as an alternative to opportunistic harvesting. However, there are still substantial points of inconsistency. This includes South Australia’s restrictive regulations around the ability to hold captured wild goats or farm goats on pastoral leases (Adams, 2017). The impact of South Australia’s regulations on the goat industry was explored in an MLA funded paper, published in 2014. This outlines that for the primary objective of landscape health to be achieved, it would be beneficial to move away from the ‘pest eradication’ stance. This would require legislative changes to allow landholders the opportunity to capture, manage and market goats as a domestic enterprise, rather than a reliance on opportunistic harvesting (Pitt, 2014). A key step forward is the construction of fence infrastructure that retains captured goats and prevents incursion of unmanaged goats (Pitt, 2014). Additional to policy changes that best support the development of the goat industry, it is also important that all stakeholders maintain an awareness of industry goals. This includes ensuring consistent terminology and messaging.