Meat goat producer survey

A pilot study was undertaken in the form of face to face interviews with the overall goal of building an understanding of the meat goat industry in Queensland and New South Wales. 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. Producers in the pastoral regions were influenced by opportunistic harvesting practices that limited animal husbandry, management and land development. The productivity per animal was lesser in the pastoral regions than the high rainfall regions. However the contrast between the two regions highlighted the opportunity to increase productivity in the pastoral regions. Although Queensland and New South Wales produce a majority of goats for export markets, South Australia and Western Australia should also be surveyed to ascertain benchmarks for these states