Goat flock grows again in Australia
Red meat promotions body Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) has said the country’s goat flock recovered in 2021, leading to an end in a downward trend in goat slaughter that had been in place since 2015.
MLA said several years of drought conditions had led to a smaller national flock of goats, but that widespread rainfall during 2020 and sustained good conditions owing to a La Niña weather pattern during 2021 had led flock numbers to increase.
Australian states, led by Queensland and Victoria, combined to achieve a goat slaughter of more than 1.2 million head in 2021, an increase of 24% compared to the previous year.
The volume of goatmeat exports in 2021 was more than 19,000 tonnes, an increase of 34.5% year on year. This brought in export revenues of AUS$242 million (around US$180 million), up 66%.
MLA pointed out that, while Australia is a minor producer of goatmeat globally, compared to China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria and others, it is the world’s largest exporter of goatmeat, with a 27% share of global export volumes and a 34% share of global export values in 2020.
