Goatmeat prices at levels unimaginable a decade ago

An industry built on trapping and offloading random assortments of wild goats to processors servicing overseas markets is swinging to more strategic management and sale programs on pastoral properties.

With goatmeat fetching about $9.20 a kilogram (carcase weight) compared to about $4.60 five years ago, many pastoralists have paid closer attention to how to beef up the value they extract from rangeland herds.

Strategies being deployed may range from introducing fresh genetics to free-ranging goats, to remodelling sheep yards and loading ramps for easier animal management, or simply ensuring the exhaust noise is not too loud on ag bikes used for mustering.

READ MORE:

Australia's goatmeat exports are up 60 per cent on the same time last year, with 6450 tonnes shipped overseas in the first quarter of 2022, and an equally strong 6450t exported in late 2021.

In less than a decade the supply of goatmeat sourced from semi-managed herds has grown from a third to almost two thirds according to prominent processor, Campbell McPhee, at Queensland's Western Meat Exporters at Charleville.

Goats are arriving at meatworks heavier, but younger, and in more consistent lines, as producers devote more time to drafting and weighing stock to meet sale specifications, or holding females and bucks with good conformation for breeding.

In fact, after the recent drought enabled so many wild goats to be trapped and harvested at watering points, landholders and processors were worried by how low eastern Australia's rangeland numbers had sunk.

Those concerns prompted more interest in selecting for meatier breeding traits in herds, and introducing fresh Boer or Kalahari genetics.

At the same time Meat and Livestock Australia has co-funded a learning package to help western NSW landholders get better at "getting goats to market".

The Getting Goats to Market program was designed so rangeland producers could better understand and respond to key profit drivers in the goat marketing game.

The Profitable Grazing Systems course involves up to 18 months of peer to peer learning and one-on-one coaching on market opportunities, including practical demonstrations, practice work and group feedback sessions.

"It's based around encouraging landholders to target markets, thinking of goats as not just something you trap on a dam and sell off," said course developer and goat sector business consultant, Peter Schuster, at Dubbo.

"The aim is to share more value along the value chain."

Until recently goatmeat processors and depots tended to enjoy most of the added value opportunities.

Freshly mustered or trapped rangeland animals were bought on per head rates, then sorted by sex and weights into consistent lines for slaughter, while juveniles with no commercial value were being grown out to 13kg carcase weights, or more.

"There's nothing wrong with that service, but producers are finding they can do something similar to add value, too, holding out of spec goats for later sale - and they don't need a fancy set of yards," said Mr Schuster.

"With goats averaging $150 a head, and does with kids selling for $300, lots of people make more from goats than other livestock options in the Western Division."

However, rather than simply drafting off all their heaviest and most saleable bucks, he encouraged landholders to retain some for breeding to improve their herd.

"If you don't have bucks with meaty features - wide shoulders, less hair and good sets of horns - you may need to bring in some of those characteristics," he said

Other considerations included understanding daily weight gain rates and likely time frames required to prepare for sale, or what to sell before winter when goat weight gains stalled.

The popularity of exclusion fencing, particularly in Queensland, has also forced landholders to be proactive about sustainably managing goats and their grazing habit, especially if seasonal conditions turn poor.

As landholders have swung to semi-managing goat resources more strategically, Western Meat Exporter's Mr McPhee said supplies were becoming more consistent, particularly when grazing conditions were good and goats were previously harder to trap for sale.

Producers also actively sought feedback on carcase quality and when best to sell.

"We're seeing evidence of complete lines from certain age groups becoming available," Mr McPhee said.

"Even in drought years, stock are being finished younger - about nine months rather than 16 months.

"Better fencing is keeping valuable assets behind wire, so stock are more available for producers to harvest as the market wants them."

Younger, semi-managed goats also produced more tender meat.

Goat Industry Council of Australia vice president, Katie Davies, said many property to property sales also occurred lately as pastoralists sought better meat traits or selected for colour consistency, especially as Queenslanders built up herds behind wire.

"More people are putting in more effort and trying new things to find better market rewards," she said.

"It's not greatly different to switching from Merinos into Dorpers or Damaras.

"You find new management ideas, animal husbandry skills and feedback from neighbours and processors which can help you get a better price."

Mrs Davies and husband Ed, moved to semi-managing the herds on their 42,000 hectare western NSW property at Wilcannia eight years ago, recognising rangeland goats "don't like to be over-loved, but they're not a set and forget business, either".

For a century rangeland goats had evolved, adapted, grown and survived well in semi-arid pastoral conditions, giving producers an excellent base to work on as they shifted to more structured harvesting three or four times a year and managed herds to achieve better kidding, growth and grazing pressure goals.

"We've added watering points to reduce their travelling distances, which also helps us better manage groundcover and achieve optimal joining weights faster," she said.

Feedback via MLA's Profitable Grazing Systems sessions offered helpful tips on everything from feeding out hay before stock loaded for market, to research findings on supplementary rations, or improving truck loading times and easing stress on everybody by investing in a hydraulic loading ramp.