Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 47 Pushing the country and animals to this point is not something they have felt comfortable pursuing. They also acknowledge that the size of their goat paddocks makes achieving higher animal densities quite difficult. Rick describes his approach to grazing and landscape management as having been learnt from experience. As there are a number of influencing factors, which can vary greatly across space and time, you cannot take a prescriptive approach. This observational approach to learning and land management has led to an appreciation for a number of holistic management principals. An example of this is his belief in the importance of animal impact on landscape function. When discussing this, Rick describes the paddock which was rested over the 2010-11 good seasons. After growing a mind blowing amount of feed during that first season, he has been somewhat underwhelmed by its condition and performance since. This is despite being rested from domestic stock for a number of consecutive years. Rick puts this down to nutrients from that first season of big plant growth not being effectively cycled back into the soil due to the absence of stock. An additional factor that cannot be ignored when discussing land condition is the impact of kangaroos. Such high kangaroo populations over the last few years have had a substantial impact on feed availability, making it very difficult to conserve feed by reducing domestic stock numbers. Looking forward Going forward, Rick and Floss intend to continue on the same trajectory that they have been on over the past 20 years. Water and fencing infrastructure will be gradually developed as they continue to expand their goat enterprise. As this occurs, they will also shift from a harvesting and semi-managed goat herd to a breeding herd. Wild dogs are considered the number one risk to their business and the broader small stock industries across western NSW. They intend to keep working in this area to employ whatever tools are available to reduce dog numbers. Industry direction From an industry perspective, Rick has been pleasantly surprised with the rate at which the industry has developed. He doesn’t feel it could grow at a much faster rate without the risk of overcommitting our supply capacity. With the volatility of goat prices reducing, Rick and Floss feel that more producers will consider goats as a genuine enterprise option. Stigma around the perceived risk and opportunistic nature of a goat enterprise is being overcome. As Australian goatmeat sustains relatively high prices, the Howard’s expect harvest pressure on rangeland populations to also be maintained. This will result in a greater reliance on managed herds to meet supply demands as wild populations are reduced. In order to increase managed herds in western NSW, other stock types will inevitably be displaced. Individual producers will be making these decisions based primarily on long term profitability of an enterprise, so price consistency is very important. Multi-species stock yards used for goats, sheep and cattle