Australian production increased 38% to 45,321 tonnes. Good seasonal conditions and higher processing capacity allowed 2.9 million head to be processed. This was a record for Australian goat production, with two consecutive quarters of record processing. The previous record year was 2013-14, where slaughter reached 2.2 million head.

Turnoff was higher in the major processing states. Victoria maintained its position as the largest goat processor, with turnoff increasing 28% to reach 1.3 million in 2023-24. Queensland was the second-largest state, up 40% to 804,000 head. NSW rose to the third-largest state by turnoff, up 337% to 700,000 head. This was record turnoff for each of these states.

Carcase weights were the lowest in 2023-24 since 2019-20, down to an average of 15.5kg Australia-wide. This was over 1kg lower than the 2022-23 average of 16.76kg. The high rangeland goat population allowed producers to send all goats regardless of weight, with less focus on growing out animals.

The United States was the largest export market, which accounted for around half of all goatmeat exports, followed by Republic of Korea. The value of goatmeat exports to the United States was $152.0 million, up 52% over the previous year, while the exports to the Republic of Korea rose 24% to $69.9 million. China remained a significant market, with exports 12% higher to $34.3 million.

As in 2022-23, lower goatmeat prices supported higher export volumes and additional markets to open up.