Meat and Livestock Australia

Rangeland goat production inWestern NSW: Where are they now? 5 Australia’s goatmeat industry Over the past five years the Australian goatmeat industry has seen a number of developments, most notably being price received by producers. Goat prices sustained almost four years of uninterrupted growth, with the over the hooks indicator moving from below $2.00/kg cwt in 2013 to a peak of $6.83/kg cwt in July 2017. However, prices did undergo a substantial correction during August 2017, where they settled at around $4.70/kg cwt before gradually increasing (MLA Market reports, 2018). Australian goatmeat production in 2017 totaled 31,414 t cwt, a four per cent increase from 2016 and a slight decrease from the highs reached over the last five years (MLA, Mar 2018)(MLA snapshot, 2018). The value of Australian goatmeat and live goat exports has increased from $125 million in 2010-11 (Jones, 2012), to $257 million in 2017 (MLA, Mar 2018). As there has been minimal change in export volumes between these years, the majority of this increased value has been realised through increased price (MLA, Mar 2018). Over this time, the industry break up between domestic and export sales has seen only small change, with exports equating to 91 per cent of total production in 2017 (MLA snapshot, 2018). Within the export industry, Australia’s largest market is still the US (taking 66 per cent of total exports). The biggest changes have been variations in tons received by countries within the top 10 export destinations (MLA snapshot, 2017). The export industry is split into live export and processed products, at approximately one per cent and 99 per cent by value respectively in 2017 (MLA snapshot, 2018). Recent live export data indicates 2016-17 exports are the lowest since 1994-95 (Uchida, 2018). Malaysia is the dominant buyer of live export goats, at 11,523 head in 2017. Total live exports in 2017 were 12,209 head, an 83 per cent reduction from the five year average (MLA snapshot, 2018). Live export goats are carried via air freight, opposed to being shipped. Almost all processed goatmeat is exported as frozen whole carcasses, with both skin on and skin off products (MLA snapshot, 2017). On a global scale Australia is not a large goat producer. However, we are the world’s largest exporter accounting for around 50 per cent of total trade (O’Connor, 2016). International demand for goatmeat is underset by it being the world’s most widely consumed meat (Jones, 2012). With few to no religious restrictions, it is a staple of many cultures. The substantial Hispanic and Muslim populations of North America are a driving force behind the demand for Australian goatmeat in the USA (Keenan, 27 Feb 2018). Rangeland goats produced in western NSW are almost entirely utilised through export markets. 2017 population numbers (both wild and managed) in western NSW are reported at 3.49 million (McLeod, 2017), indicating a substantial decline in numbers from 2016 estimates of 5.8 million (MLA, 28 Sept 2017). These figures align with landholder observations and theorised impacts of high prices and diminishing seasons. This ends the sustained growth seen in western NSW goat populations since 1999 (MLA, 28 Sept 2017). While a large number of goats are still wild harvested, anecdotal evidence suggests an increase in managed and semi-managed systems. Figure 1: Australian ‘over the hooks’ indicator goat prices (c/kg cwt) (DPI, March 2018)