Best practice videos add to goat resources

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has developed a new series of best practice videos about the Australian goatmeat industry to help boost productivity in the sector.

The first video in the series focuses on fencing requirements for goats and features goatmeat producers from across Queensland and New South Wales who manage a mix of enterprise types.

MLA Project Manager – Goat Industry, Julie Petty, said the videos were produced in consultation with the Goat Industry Council of Australia (GICA) and would be rolled out over the next 12 months to further add to MLA’s extension resources for goatmeat producers.

“The videos are designed to answer commonly asked questions from current and potential goatmeat producers to help build their knowledge and skills to improve business performance, and to lift productivity,” Ms Petty said.

“Topics covered in the series of videos include nutrition, profitability and target markets for goatmeat producers.

“They also include commentary on why producers recommend others get into the industry, how to make the transition and why it makes sense to move away from harvesting goats and into semi-managed herds.

“To stabilise goatmeat production in Australia and grow domestic and international markets, an increase in the number of goatmeat producers and volume of turn-off is needed.

“The rangeland goat is the major source of goats for Australia’s industry, accounting for approximately 90% of production. Rangeland goats have traditionally been opportunistically harvested by producers but there is a shift to semi-managed production systems to increase supply and improve quality, carcase weights and consistency.”

MLA’s extension services to goatmeat producers have also been further boosted with the addition of an updated Parasite control module in MLA’s Going into Goats (GiG) guide.

The online GiG guide has 12 modules that address different aspects of the goat production system, which can be accessed here.

Updated versions of the Goat depots and Nutrition modules will also be uploaded in the coming weeks.

To view MLA’s goat fencing video, click here.