Recent claims that rangeland goats are not being mustered due to low prices have been debunked by industry, who say current numbers coming off station country are in fact record-breaking.
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SA capture numbers supplied to Stock Journal show about 170,000 goats were shifted in the 11 months to June, a record number.
A large portion of those went through River Light Goat Depot at Redbanks, near Mallala, where 130,000 goats passed through in the past 12 months, another all-time high.
Livestock SA's representative on the Goat Industry Council of Australia Andrew Smith said the figures clearly demonstrated landholders were considerate of environmental and grazing pressure, not just the bottom line.
"It shows that even at a price of 90 cents a kilogram (live weight), landholders are making some income and mustering goats at record levels," he said.
"If you've got 100 to 1000 goats in the yards of course you're going to sell them.
"There's several positives. You're making some profit selling them and you're changing your total grazing pressure to be in favour of your sheep, and looking after your environment because they're coming off an ungrazed environment."
The River Light Goat Depot is a collection point for goats off pastoral country, where animals are sorted into weight ranges and distributed to butchers, processors and restaurants across Australia, with meat supplied to every capital city.
Owner Paul Blacket, who started the operation on the family farm as a 17-year-old three decades ago, said 36,000 goats had passed through in the past quarter.
In the past year, 130,000 goats have streamed through, 30,000 more than their previous record for a 12-month span.
"The goat industry is proud of its growth and the fact its contributing $280 million each year to the Australian economy," Mr Blacket said.
"Some misleading stories on social media and TV in recent times have been very disappointing and the industry wants to reassure the public and producers there is a lot to be positive about moving forward."
The claims that pastoralists were forgoing goat musters due to low prices were made by multiple sources on a popular South Australian tourism program recently, as well as television news networks.
The assertion was made this was leading to a population boom, in turn causing negative environmental consequences.
Mr Smith said while rangeland goat populations may have grown, numbers were influenced by breeding conditions more than any other factor.
While Mr Blacket said hooks prices for goat had dropped from $10/kg two years ago to $3/kg currently, demand was at an all-time high, as were the numbers being taken off pastoral country.
"While the high prices were great at the time for goat producers, we lost a large market share because it became unaffordable to many overseas and local buyers," he said.
"Now we're having a large shift back into the market which is great for the future of the industry."
The SA numbers are mirrored by national figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released recently.
More than 750,000 goats were processed nationally in the first quarter of 2024, the first time that number has been surpassed.
The national total of 11,777 tonnes of goat meat produced for the quarter also surpassed the previous record from quarter one of 2017.
Multiculturalism and home cooks drive butcher demand
At the Mr Meats butcher shop at West Hindmarsh, owner Jimmy Lambos said he had noticed an increasing demand for goat meat in the past five years.
Of Greek heritage, Mr Lambos said the meat was a staple in Greek and Italian diets and with other goat-loving ethnic communities growing in Adelaide, there was an ever-increasing market for all classes of goat meat.
He said most of his customers were using premium meat for slow-cooked stews and curries.
"There has been a big momentum shift in the past five years," he said.
"People are starting to discover goat, and whether it's through recipes or cooking shows I'm not entirely sure, but consumption is building.
"I source the best of the best and they often look like little lambs when they come into the shop."
Mr Lambos said one barrier to goat becoming a staple dish in Australia was the time required to cook it.
He said it often required 4 to 5 hours slow cooking and attention was need to ensure it didn't overcook, meaning it wasn't overly suitable as a weekday dish for "the parent on the run".
