Growing international demand for dairy goats is signalling a lucrative export opportunity for New Zealand goat farmers.
While still in its infancy, the live export of NZ dairy goats to China has the potential to grow exponentially, according to the live export industry.
Australian-based livestock exporter Austrex NZ is currently preparing a consignment of dairy goats for export to China.
General manager Austrex NZ Paul Tippett said the company has been in the business of live goat exporting in Australia for many years and, driven by demand, has been testing the market in NZ.
“We have been dabbling in NZ for about four years now and there is good potential for growing business,” Tippett said.
He said “it’s very lucrative”, but was not prepared to divulge buying prices.
“Top money is paid but pricing is sensitive and really, it is market driven, dependent on whether we are buying on the high or the low of supply and demand, the time of the year and the classes we are buying – it varies accordingly.
“It’s fair to say it’s very lucrative.”
Over recent weeks Austrex has procured a consignment of 2500 dairy breed goats including British Alpine buck and doe kids, Saanen doe kids and Toggenburg buck and doe kids.
The animals come from up to 30 different farms – all of them private farmers and most in the Waikato region.
They are destined for China where currently there is growing demand for good dairy goat genetics that meet the specific export protocols.
The 2500 export goat consignment is due to go into a 30-day quarantine period on three different quarantine farms in the coming days before heading to Auckland to catch a direct flight to China.
Each goat boards the plane at about 25kg in weight with a $400 one-way ticket.
On arrival they all go onto commercial milking platforms.
“There are specific criteria and every contract can be different,” Tippett said.
“Since covid, air freight has gone through the roof, and right now it’s very expensive at $400 to send one goat but that is slowly starting to come back.
“It’s an interesting business exercise, ticking away quietly. We are working on growing it in NZ, and with the increasing demand from China to build their dairy goat herd, it’s looking pretty good.”
But Tippett said China can be fickle and with milk powder prices currently down, “it’s pretty tough at the moment”.
“Look at cattle [live exports] 30 years ago and look what happened there, who would have thought that would happen?
“We just have to keep ticking along and meet the market as it is demand driven.”
NZ currently exports goat milk formula into China, where the benefits of goat milk have been recognised for many years.
What effect China’s herd building could have on future milk powder exports is difficult to assess.
It is expected China will get its numbers over time, and – given goats breed in good numbers, not just one kid but up to five or six at one time – the desired herd build could happen relatively quickly.
With surplus dairy goats in NZ and some bred specifically for the export market, the live export business is not expected to run NZ short of goat milk.
