Goat Meat Production in Australia:

the majority of Australias goat meat production came from feral goats until in recent years,the South African Boer was introduced into Australia.This has resulted in the breeding of boer crosses to find the meat goat most suited to Australia conditions.The Anglo Nubian is involved in this equation.Captured feral goats are now being used as a base for the production of CAPRETTO,which is meat that comes from milk fed goat kids ideally,about 3 months old.There has however been rapid increases in the consumption in many developed countries.The U.S.A. where the slaughter of goats has tripled between 1985/1990 (USDA).Australia exported about 12,000 tonnes of goat meat in 1997,about 85% of exports were in carcass form,the rest as bone in and bone out cuts.also exported over 47,000 live goats in 1996/97 and growing every year.Australia has a dominant market share of this trade.Australia is also a major player in the world live goat trade,but has competition from Iran and Somalia in supplying the United Arab Emirates,the worlds largest live goat market.Australias traditional export markets of Malaysia,Singapore and Taiwan,which accounts for about 40% of Australias export sales and demand is growing in these markets for lean goat meat which is 20-40% higher in value than chilled or frozen mutton (sheep).Goat meat is low in fat and cholestrol.Statistics from the USDA show that goat meat has less fat than beef,pork,lamb and chicken and is low in cholesterol.The demand for goat meat in Asia,S.America,Europe and the Caribbean is substantially unsatisfied.The most lucrative market for export of goat meat will be chilled carcasses as opposed to current frozen export.Certain special markets require young entirely milk fed animals up to 10 weeks and weighing up to 20Kg.live or 10kg.dressed.Producers must identify each markets requirements then modify their management and production to suit that market(s).
By:Meat Goat Producers of Australia