Goat producers around the country are calling for backup from the Australian Government to promote domestic consumption amidst the current plummet within the market.
Queensland Country Life spoke to a number of producers at the Pinnacle Boer Goat Sale at St George on Wednesday, with several vendors and buyers saying the sale results were to be expected with goat prices taking a dive in recent weeks.
Thomas Youlden, Valley Boers and Youlden Valley, Tomingley NSW, said the tougher conditions seen at the sale were a reflection of the current market situation, which needed to be remedied in order for prices to become more sustainable.
"The goat industry in Australia is still in its infancy," he said.
"We knew there would be a price correction but the overreliance on overseas markets has influenced outcomes here today.
"We need more government help in getting goat meat into supermarkets for Australian meat consumers, the continued growth in this sector is important in building the industry long term."
Mr Youlden said the industry had been relying on the export market for too long and producers needed government support to encourage domestic sales and consumption.
"Our current concern regarding goat meat is that there is an over reliance on overseas markets like America, which has had a major influence in the recent price drop, and that there is an untapped opportunity for goat meat consumption within Australia," he said.
"The goat industry needs help from the government in establishing and coordinating the different key stakeholders to have a consistent supply chain that would make goat meat readily available to Australian consumers.
"We know that many key stakeholders across the agricultural sector want this to happen and we need the support of the government in pulling the parts together, so the Australian consumer can incorporate goat as a valuable meat option beyond eating the novel goat curry."
Benjamin Stanford, Bengara Boer Goats and Best Reds, Peak Hill NSW, said that producers also needed to be prepared to promote their own product and continue investing in quality genetics to further the industry.
"We've relied for so long on overseas markets, for meat and live export, which when things toughen up, it makes it a lot harder for the rest of us in Australia," he said.
"We need to focus more on producing a consistent animal for consumers to eat in Australia, and in turn that obviously means that farmers need to be open to probably buying better quality animals to increase their production.
"The drop in the meat market is probably just a correction to the high prices which we saw last year and I think, although the high prices were great, it needed to come back to a sustainable price.
"It would be great to see both stud and commercial producers make reasonable money."
Meat and Livestock Australia Senior Market Information Analyst Ripley Atkinson said that supply and demand was a major factor in the market slump, and the current position of other commodities was also having an effect on goat prices.
"I think the first point obviously, around concerns in pricing is across all species, so it's not just isolated to goat producers and they're not alone," he said.
"We export around 60 to 65 per cent of our total goat production to the US as our major market and because there's a lot of beef available in the US at the minute, it's allowing for a product swap between proteins, if you will.
"Consumers are stepping back into beef where they typically would be eating goat because there's more beef available at a relatively low price point compared to exported Australian goat meat.
"You can understand this price correction, when you consider how significant supply has been, in terms of floor volumes for goats. We did put a lot of goats through the processing plants last year, which translated into increased exports year on year, overall as well.
"That increasing supply has to play a role in how the market operates and because there's obviously more goats available, that's affecting OTH (over the hooks) prices from a processing perspective as well."
Mr Atkinson said it was also important to consider the advancements within the goat industry over the last twelve months, and that although prices had seen a dramatic shift, there was still significant growth into new export markets.
"It's not all doom and gloom by any any stretch of the imagination," he said.
"It does look bad and I can understand some concerns from the producer perspective when you look at goat prices on the slide from where they sat this time 12 months ago.
"It's actually probably the best position it's been in, in terms of continuing to grow exports as production improves, and more goats are in that more managed enterprise to meet that demand.
"You can see the growth in markets such as South Korea, Taiwan, Canada, and they had some really, really strong improvements last year, in terms of increase export volumes year on year, so there's a lot of good things and it's in a really solid space to continue to develop as well.
"We know that people are investing in genetics, exclusion fencing, infrastructure on farm to make the goat enterprise a really strong option and tool within their business, so it's in a really strong space."
