Goats

NSW Farmers has warned it will walk away from controversial traceability reforms unless states and territories implement the same system with the same compliance requirements. NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin said jurisdictional harmonisation of mandatory sheep and goat eID traceability was increasingly at risk as state and territories moved in a different direction...

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has published new analysis of the broader market conditions and economic contribution of the red meat industry in the latest State of the Industry Report 2023. The report produced by MLA provides an overview of Australia’s red meat and livestock industry from the prior calendar year.

The need for humane and accessible abattoir facilities has never been greater as producers are forced out of larger facilities and face ever-increasing costs of transporting their animals. Last week’s meeting and tour with the Murray Plains Meat Co-Operative (MPMC) was well attended with everyone being brought up to speed on how the project is progressing. 

Australia’s sheep, cattle and goat markets are being impacted by very high production numbers, compounded by already large volumes of meat in congested supply chains, according to agricultural analysts at Rabobank. For the sheep sector particularly, there is effectively a "mountain of supply at the moment" following two "extremely good seasons"...

A new research report released by CSIRO and Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) has shown that the Australian red meat and livestock industry has reduced its net greenhouse gas emissions by 65 per cent since 2005. Using information primarily from the 2020 Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributed to the red meat industry were 51.25 Mt of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG in the year 2020.

The Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens Zoo & Aviary is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from the community to rehome five of its adult goats. The goats have been on display for several years but had to be relocated due to recent changes at the zoo.

The independent, global Gender Representation in the Meat Industry 2023 report draws on international data from more than 50 major meat organisations ... Australia's OBE Organic - whose MD Dalene Wray is herself a notable woman in the meat business - featured as a case study in the report ... ARR.News asked some questions about women in the meat business of Dalene and Laura Ryan, Founder and Global Chair of Meat Business Women.

The state’s peak agricultural body says mandatory electronic identification tags for sheep should cost no more than $1 per tag, setting a clear target for state and federal governments ... farmers were still worried about how much the scheme might cost their businesses, and made it clear there must be financial support to implement traceability reform.

Prime Ministers Albanese and Sunak met in London on 5 May 2023 and announced the long-awaited entry into force date of midnight 31 May 2023 for the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement (A-UK FTA), following the expected completion of UK domestic processes ... The A-UK FTA, which was agreed in principle in June 2021 and signed on 17 December 2021, will see Australian beef and sheepmeat/goat meat access to the UK liberalised over a transition period.

NSW Farmers is calling for a substantial investment from the state and federal governments to make their traceability reform achievable. A move to electronic identification (eID) for sheep and goats will far exceed the $20 million offered by the federal government, and with a timeline set for mandatory tagging, farmers are in the dark on what financial support will be made available.

A committee charged with assessing the benefits, risks and costs of implementing eID tags for sheep and goats in SA has survived a tied 10-10 vote of no confidence. A call for its removal came after a two-hour debate where farmers spoke for and against mandatory eID tags in sheep and goats.

If a truck load of vendor-bred sheep go direct from a farm to an abattoir, should producers pay for the time, effort and cost of each animal having a $2.50 electronic identification (eID) ear tag ... Current figures suggest around $30 million will be ripped out of rural communities and their service towns by the scheme.

The NSW Government has released its plan to roll out electronic identification (eID) for the State’s $1.5 billion farmed sheep and goat industries. Minister for Agriculture and Western NSW Dugald Saunders said the plan has been developed hand-in-hand with industry, ensuring a timeline that works for each sector.

Kirstin Nicholson. Cohuna’s Dean Smith has just returned from the Royal Adelaide Show with a haul of Grand Champion ribbons. Dean and his family own Strzboer Goat Stud and breed Fullblood Boer Goats, the fullblood meaning that there is traceability with genetics back to South Africa. With 10 years of showing experience at Sydney Royal Easter Show and numerous local and interstate shows, Adelaide had been beckoning.

After more than six years of multi-disciplinary research, the Q Fever Group ... has released the findings of its flagship research project, Taking the Q (query) out of Q fever. The project findings fell into three broad themes; improving knowledge and management of Q fever in dairy goat herds; understanding Q fever in the environment; and structures to support Q fever management across the human, animal and environmental health sectors.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released the official livestock and production figures for the second quarter of 2022. The data also provided insights on slaughter, production, value and carcase weight for sheep and cattle for the 2022 financial year.

WAFarmers Livestock Council advises members of an update in policy on the implementation of EID tags for sheep and goats. The council has a standing policy to support EID tags for traceability in sheep and goats based on government funding to assist in the implementation of a national database to manage a national standardised process.