"We had a good base ground of our harvested goats before we started buying others — that was important."
"The crossbreds are a lot more of a meat goat, which is what we are after because we are looking for a quick turnover of our goats," Ms Dennis said.
Once cluster fencing was in place, Mr Counsell introduced the goats and said he became impressed by their resilience.
Growing demand from export and domestic markets According to figures from Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) 2–2.5 million goats were supplied for processing nationally in the 2017-2018 financial year.
Goat prices are holding strong in the market, and with the industry having lower production costs per animal than other livestock, returns are strong despite the drought.
Meat and Livestock Australia’s project manager for the goat industry Julie Petty said that despite the ongoing struggles in western Queensland, those turning to goats were seeing positive outcomes.
Fencing could improve goat numbers Western Meat Exporters managing director Campbell McPhee said that although the number of goats being processed had declined in western Queensland this year, mostly due to the conditions and wild dogs, more funding for cluster fencing would potentially see those numbers improve.
High demand for organic Mr McPhee said there was also an opportunity for producers to move into the organic goat meat market.
"We can definitely remain where we are pricewise — I think that’s what’s created the interest in the goat industry by more and more producers is our ability to hold those prices high and strong," he said.
"The ability of the market to attract, and continuing to attract, higher prices will remain.