For people like Rob Newton, the reopening of the abattoir at Bourke can't come soon enough.
As well as running thousands of goats, plus cattle, on his country in the Bourke district, he also manages a goat depot with throughput of between 150,000 and 180,000 a year, leaning towards the higher side as supply increases off the back of good seasons.
That means he's constantly loading B doubles for destinations such as Stawell in western Victoria, Lobethal east of Adelaide, or Cedar Meats at Melbourne, all at least 1000km away.
"We pay the freight," he said. "Bourke is going to be so good; we can nearly walk them in."
As well as costing a lot less, having the abattoir on his doorstep will mean there won't be a discount for weight loss as a result of stock sitting on a truck for over 1000km.
Mr Newton said not only were more people planning to run goats with the assurance of a processing plant within coo-ee, they had already begun building numbers.
"I think there'll be enough for us and Charleville," he said.
"We're already getting some from that way now; Charleville can't keep up.
"And competition is good for everyone."
Having a company such as Thomas Foods taking over the business was another blessing as far as Mr Newton was concerned.
"TFI probably wouldn't have built it in the first place so it was good the other group started it," he said. "But everyone getting it to where it is now is fantastic."
Mr Newton said half the goats that went through his depot were rangeland and the other 50 per cent were semi-managed.
"That's only been that way in the last three or four years," he said.
"Prior to that, the ratio was 80-20.
"There's a lot more management going on in Queensland than here, we're a bit behind Queensland in that regard, but they repopulated from here - there are so many goats here."
He said people shouldn't take the addition of Boer and Kalahari genetics too far, saying the people he supplied to didn't want prime fat goats, preferring a leaner product.
"But I guess people are thinking of the production, another kilogram over a mob adds up," he said.
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Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
