ONCE considered a pest within the Broken Hill region, goats have become pastoralists' new best friend, with prices tracking similar to mutton.
Meat & Livestock Australia's most recent slaughter report quoted export over-hook prices marginally higher, with a top price of 470 cents a kilogram carcase weight, as "demand remains firm from overseas markets".
NSW Farmers Goat Industry Committee chairperson Katie Davies, who runs a rangeland goat enterprise east of Broken Hill, said she had never seen prices this high.
"Beef and mutton prices are high, and goats normally track alongside mutton prices," she said.
"Goat meat is a lean, green protein source.
"The prices are phenomenal because of an increased demand for goat, particularly from American markets, Hispanic populations and emerging markets in Asia.
"The majority of NSW's goat kill figures are from Broken Hill's rangelands."
She said those figures had been down recently.
"That's not through the lack of goats, it's because of the lack of supply," Ms Davies said.
"The recent good seasonal conditions have made goats harder to trap - they don't go to water holes to drink as much because there is water in the paddocks."
The high prices also attracted opportunity poachers, which Ms Davies said was frustrating.
"Goats are an important income stream for our pastoralists, so stealing goats from properties is basically stock theft - no different to cattle or sheep," she said.
"The same goes for shooting goats and leaving them, there's just no need for that."
But for kangaroos in the region, demand does not match supply, with pastoralists frustrated by market restrictions.
A fixed-wing survey from June 16 to August 1 last year estimated there were more than 13 million kangaroos on the Western Plains of NSW.
In 2014, only 354,979 kangaroos were harvested in NSW - 15 per cent of the 2,388,424 quota or 2.3pc of the population.
This year, only 5pc of the 2,701,952 quota had been harvested by June 30, leaving a lot of kangaroos roaming the landscape.
Lachlan Gall, Langawirra Station, north-east of Broken Hill, is the Pastoralists' Association of West Darling representative on the Kangaroo Management Advisory Panel - a group of stakeholders who meet to advise the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage on matters pertaining to the commercial harvest of kangaroos in NSW.
He said kangaroo populations were at unsustainable levels.
"At a population of more than 17 million in the commercial harvest zones state-wide, kangaroos are competing for water, damaging fences and a danger to road users," Mr Gall said.
"But by far the biggest issue in western NSW is their impact on pastures, which is estimated by some to be in excess of half of the total grazing pressure in the area."
Mr Gall said the problem was only exacerbated by limited international demand for kangaroo products, the actions of animal rights activists and competition for skins from synthetics.
"Kangaroo products are exported to a number of countries, but none are large volume markets," he said.
"Exports to Russia by Macro Meats resumed on a small scale in early 2013, but were suspended again in 2014.
"A lot of effort has gone into developing a market for kangaroo products in China by both government representatives and industry participants, and kangaroos were included in the free trade agreement with China, but a breakthrough there remains elusive.
"India is also viewed as a potential high-volume market."
Domestic demand remains flat.
"Supermarkets have lifted the retail price of kangaroo three times in the last three years for a mark-up of 100pc, but this hasn't flowed through to the suppliers," Mr Gall said.
"Pet food demand is declining due to competition from alternative sources."
The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, in conjunction with stakeholders, is undertaking a major review of the industry.
Mr Gall said the PAWD would like to see the cap on Fauna Dealer Wholesaler licences abandoned.
"Unsurprisingly, there is resistance to this proposal from the Kangaroo Industries Association of Australia on the basis that increased competition will drive down prices and Fauna Dealers who paid large sums of money to buy existing licences stand to lose financially," he said.
"But we would like to see demand in the commercial sector rise."
