Delivery of best practice guidelines for depot operators and commercial goat traders supplying the Australian goat meat and livestock export sectors

Summary

The Australian goat meat and livestock export sectors witnessed significant growth in recent years and have become an increasingly valuable source of income for primary producers. This project was designed to deliver industry wide best practice information on the handling and transportation for goats in the depot and commercial goat trading sectors of the industry. These are growing sectors and best practice guidelines were to assist in consistently delivering high quality live goat and meat products to existing markets. 
The guidelines were to be an important tool in maintaining Australia's reputation as a supplier of quality goats and may contribute to the capture of further market share in international markets for Australian goat meat and live goat exports. The guidelines were also to assist in improving the efficiency of supplying goats to markets and improve returns for goat industry operators. 
The objective of this project was to undertake research on the goat supply chain on current handling and transportation practices used in the industry, and devise best practice guidelines for use by depot operators and traders supplying the goat meat and live export markets. These guidelines cover all aspects of livestock husbandry typical to the goat depot and commercial trading sector and address the issues identified in the research. 
Extensive consultation with operators in the goat supply chain and researchers focused on live goat exports was undertaken. A depot module has been added to the Going into Goats best practice manual and copies can be downloaded from the MLA website or hard copies ordered.