The Australian Meat Goat Survey

Summary

This survey was funded as a pilot study with the overall goal of building an understanding of the meat goat industry in Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW) and to identify problems or constraints in the meat goat industry should they arise from the survey.  The survey covered 567,177 ha of land and approximately 160,010 goats.  Meat goat producers (n = 31) were surveyed by face to face interviews. 
Six clusters of goat producers were identified based on biogeographic factors and proximity to each other.   The six clusters were then divided into two regions; 
1. The pastoral regions (n = 17) inclusive of western NSW, South western Qld, and central western Qld 
2. The high rainfall regions (n = 14) of eastern NSW, south eastern Queensland and north Queensland. 
The survey quantified goat enterprises and the markets that producers targeted.  The survey was able to establish benchmarks for the meat goat industry in reproductive and production parameters for the pastoral and high rainfall regions of Queensland and New South Wales. In addition the common diseases and management of goats in the pastoral and high rainfall regions were identified and discussed. 
Producers also provided information on their perceptions of grazing management of goats in the pastoral regions.  The preference of media by goat producers for the delivery of information on herd and property management was addressed. The pastoral regions were dominated by opportunistic harvesting practices that have not progressed since the late 1950s when the meat goat industry began.  As such animal husbandry and land development practices are minimised in these regions.  In contrast the high rainfall regions were associated with seed-stock producers who utilised animal husbandry practices in the management of their herds and achieved greater productivity from their herds compared to producers in the pastoral regions.  This pilot survey has shed some light into the meat goat industry of eastern Australia.  The meat goat industry can benefit from this work by using the information as a starting point to benchmark their respective properties.