Project sets industry up for the future

The Australian goatmeat industry’s access to reliable data and its capacity to forecast population and supply changes has been significantly improved thanks to a recently completed project.

The Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) levy funded Goat Industry Data Collation and Tracking Project started in 2016, and is lead by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI).

At the outset of the project, the goatmeat industry had insufficient information to project supply and set production targets, limiting its ability to make informed decisions and undertake strategic planning.

The entire goatmeat supply chain in Australia required information for decision making. Basic information such as population estimates, and the numbers of goats supplied from each state and region were historically unavailable to industry, prior to this MLA levy funded research project.

Project leader, Trudie Atkinson, Technical Specialist Grazing Systems with NSW DPI, said the project team set out to address these deficiencies, and has now established proven systems that will continue to benefit the industry.

“Data reporting, modelling and industry-specific forecasting processes were needed to forecast supply and support industry development,” Trudie said.

“There was also a need to build confidence in the data and the capacity to use this data for decision making.

“A critical requirement for a viable, long-term goat industry is accurate and reliable supply, population and processing data.

“The project collated data from existing sources, developed forecasting and modelling, and integrated industry intelligence.

“From the outset, the project has engaged the industry – building capacity and confidence to use the outputs for decision making and foresee supply issues,” Trudie said.

Benefits to industry

Major outputs from the project include improved accuracy in the reporting of goats supplied for processing from each region in Australia, refined supply and population modelling and establishment of the National Goatmeat Supply Forecasting Committee.

The committee consists of six representatives from various supply chain sectors and meets annually. NSW DPI and other stakeholders provide data and modelling that informs the committee’s decisions.

Trudie said the processes that support the committee have significantly increased the industry's capacity to predict and understand supply and population trends, enhancing the goatmeat sector’s strategic planning.

“The integration of the committee’s industry knowledge was essential to predict supply, explain trends and formulate key messages,” Trudie said.

“In four of the last five years, the committee has achieved the objective of projecting supply within 10% of actual processing figures.”

Regular updates on production, supply, processing, and market trends are available at DPI’s Goat industry data collection and tracking page.