The first in a series of free webinars for goat producers and other industry participants was held on September 26. This webinar focused on goatmeat market requirements, prices and trends.
Presenters included Campbell McPhee, Owner of Western Meat Exporters in Queensland, Blair Brice, Business Development Manager of Wellard Meat Trading based in Western Australia, and Ben Thomas, Senior Market Analyst with MLA.
Campbell McPhee and Blair Brice described current export markets, the types of products demanded in these markets, and specifications and transport requirements producers should be familiar with when sending animals for processing. Ben Thomas outlined the trends in Australian goatmeat slaughter, production and the value of export markets, as well as highlighting the difficulties in forecasting future trends because of the strong reliance on the variable supply in rangeland production systems.
All three presenters are buoyant about existing and potential export markets for Australian goatmeat as the product is well suited to a range of consumers and demand has been outstripping supply year on year. This is particularly evident in recent years, as dry conditions have increased slaughter levels but these have been more than matched by demand from overseas.
Visit the MLA’s website to learn about future webinars in this series.