Emerging agriculture industries: Goat fibre, deer and tea tree oil

AgriFutures has been working to raise the profile and profitability of these new, developing and maturing industries.

They're researching and developing commodities such as ginger, honey bees, pasture seed, rice, goat fibre, deer and tea tree oil. Here's a deep dive on those last three.

While it's now a relatively small industry, goat fibre was 20-times larger in the 1980s and 1990s, when there were roughly 3000 growers in Australia.

These days there are about 150 growers, who mostly harvest mohair from Angora goats, turning over about $5 million annually and supplying 5 per cent of the world's mohair.

AgriFuture's Ellen Buckle said there was "a lot going for the humble Angora goat".

"It took off in the 70s and 80s because it's a good animal in a mixed-farming enterprise," Ms Buckle said.

"They take a bit more care than a merino, but there is a very solid return. On average, you've got five to eight years of fibre, then the meat market at the end of their life and goat meat is worth a lot more than any other red meat these days.

"The wool price is about $12 to $13 a kilo. For mohair, you're looking at between $35 to $60 a kilo."

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Mohair is highly sought after for high-end fashion and furnishing. The unique fibre blends well with traditional fibres and has a clean, green and sustainable reputation.

Most of Australia's mohair is sold internationally, usually to South African mills, and Ms Buckle said the local goat fibre industry had a "great capacity to grow".

Like rangeland goats, the Angora goat is well suited to arid and woody country, and can be found all over the nation, from Western Australia and Tasmania to Canberra and the NSW Central West.

But Ms Buckle said unlike their range land cousin, Angora goats are actually "quite small and petite".

"Rangeland goats need damn good fencing - Angora goats need some different fencing, but they're actually much smaller, so they're not climbing over fences," she said.

Like all goats, they have no problem eating weeds, and many within the industry, whether it be the small hobby farmers focused on genetics breeding or those with 1000-strong herds, will often cut deals with other landholders to adjist their goats as a form of weed control.

The goats have to be clipped twice a year

indication, part time - shears them himself, which takes him about a week to do his 600-strong herd.

"He does that twice a year, and gets about $100,000 for two weeks of work,"

Deer are another sector that has gone through a boom and bust cycle, peaking within Australia in the 80s.

The vast majority of deer are farmed for their velvet, which at its peak could fetch up to $300/kg. But a volatile velvet market - dropping as low as $30/kg - saw many level the industry.

But the price has been relatively stable for the last eight years, fetching around $105/kg. The velvet is harvested between the 45 and 60 days after the previous antler buttons are cast., under anaesthetic by a veterinarian.

"With better genetics some deer are getting 4.5 kilograms a year, while there are some animals that get closer to 2 kilograms," Ms Buckle said.

"One thing to remember is you do need to have very good fencing."

At the end of their velvet production cycle, which can be a decade depending on the species, the deer are harvested for venison, 85pc of which is sent off shore.

"The best way of thinking about the tea tree industry is it's almost like a factory where the raw ingredient is grown in a paddock - so quite different to the thought process behind most agricultural industries," Ms Buckle said.

Australia's 150 to 200 tea tree growers produce 50pc of the world's tea tree oil, which is used in cosmetics, fungicides, personal health care, home and industrial and animal care products.

At one point, demand was growing 25pc year-on-year. Tea Tree oil sells for around $44/kg, with Australia's total industry value of sitting at $30 million.

"There's a couple of very large players in Australia and we would probably have about a thousand tonnes a year produced," Ms Buckle said.

"But the main growing region is the Northern Rivers. They are in a world of pain because most of them were flooded three times and they are struggling to harvest because it's still raining."

The other large growing region is Atherton on the northern Queensland Tablelands, but as a native species, it can thrive in many areas and can tolerate coastal acid sulphate soils.

"You plant your plant to paddock once and when the plants are about 18-months old, you harvest - which is pretty much just cutting it down to a foot off the ground - then they do that year after year," Ms Buckle said.

"Then it is sent to a distiller and turned into oil."

Australia is a world leader in tea tree oil research and development. AgriFutures' investment in the tea tree breeding program over the past 25 years has resulted in the near doubling of plantation yield.