Nutritional requirement and rumen function in Rangeland goats

Australia is the largest exporter of goat meat globally with 90% of Australian goat meat derived from Rangeland goats. In 2018, 1.61 million goats were slaughtered in Australia with the industry having a value of $182 million. As demand for goat meat increased globally, goat prices in Australia have also increased. There has been a trend away from opportunistic harvesting of goats to managed production systems due in part to these high prices. However, there is limited recent information regarding the nutritional requirements of Rangeland goats. Such information is required to develop feeding strategies to achieve optimal growth of Rangeland goats within managed production systems. This project aims to better understand the nutritional requirements of Rangelands goats. Several pen trials have been conducted to examine the response of young entire male Rangelands goats to wide range of energy and protein supplements. The information generated in this study will provide simple practical feeding decision support for Rangeland goat producers and provide an insight into the nutritional requirements of young Rangeland goats.

Funding: MLAScholarship