Once an everyday staple, the number of goats found in outback Australia is dwindling but producers are encouraging newcomers to enter the market.

Key points: Goat meat is fetching record prices alongside lamb meat

Goat meat is fetching record prices alongside lamb meat Wild dogs continue to be a problem for farmers in Queensland

Wild dogs continue to be a problem for farmers in Queensland As well for meat and dairy, goats were once used for racing

However a kidding season that's up to six weeks earlier than usual has left producers struggling to find restocking goats this year.

Contributing to the lack of numbers for restocking this season has been the increased demand for kids, pushing prices up alongside feed prices.

Goats have entered online auctions for the first time since 2016, with producers having trouble finishing goats on dry land.

Goat Industry Council Australia's Campbell McPhee said the return to the online market was not surprising.

With sheep meat prices through the roof, Campbell McPhee says goat meat is on a similar trend. ( ABC Rural: Andrea Crothers )

"With the current drought we've been going through, online became another useful tool for struggling producers.

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"I think we will see online sales be used for years to come in surplus of kidding and when the goat industry matures."

With exclusion fencing and prices for goats currently fetching high records alongside lamb categories, Mr McPhee strongly encouraged newcomers to enter the market.

"Current prices of $7.50 [per kilogram] and beyond is a very good sign for the industry that has potential to give good return to the farm gate."

Mr McPhee also said Queensland has been in a unique position of needing to overcome various obstacles to production.

"The [wild] dog issue has probably forced a lot of people out of the industry in Queensland."

Goats then

A newspaper article describes a dramatic run-in with a stray goat in Brisbane as reported in the Armidale Express on March 27, 1927. ( Supplied: National Library of Australia )

Goats have long been integral to outback Australia but desire for the animal has dropped compared to a century ago when they were heavily relied upon as a source of dairy, meat and leather.

Queensland historian Helen Gregory said goats were extremely important for milk in the hotter, drier parts of the state.

"It wasn't possible to keep dairy cattle in the way people would in the wetter, more temperate areas and of course milk didn't keep as well," Ms Gregory said.

Not only used for leather hides and meat in rural areas, goat numbers were growing in metropolitan townships through the turn of the century.

"In Townsville there were so many goats that they had to pass special council by-laws allowing the council to rounding up stray, nuisance goats.

"A goat in your garden for instance was often in the news as a terrible problem for Brisbane in the 1840s."

Aside from essential use, goats have historically been used in sport and were famously raced professionally.

Goat racing's popularity grew throughout the mid-20th century, however the pastime was now just a novelty across western Queensland.

A young boy in Charleville jumps with a billy goat over a paddock fence in 1890. ( Supplied: National Archives of Australia )

Use of goats has changed, but not gone

The decrease in demand for the animal has left many producers struggling to source numbers.

One of those is producer Barry Nelson from Moselle Downs station in north-west Queensland.

Mr Nelson has struggled to source the popular breed of Boer goats this season, due to low kidding numbers coming off dry conditions.

He said times haD changed from how previous generations used goats for dairy and leather.

"I got a notice from our leather merchant saying northern [Queensland] hides can't sell, even though they're clean and not scarred," Mr Nelson said.

"The hides that are sold out of Australia now are taken out of big firms and very little tanneries [are] open [for producers to utilise]."

Goat is a sought after meat in winter months. ( Supplied: Glen Barratt )

Mr Nelson remained optimistic about the meat's use in the food industry despite demand dropping.

Goat breeders around the nation have followed in the footsteps of the beef industry and are breeding for meat quality and taste so cooking options can be expanded from traditional curries and stews to grilling or frying.

"The goats that come out of the grain-assisted system are very similar to lamb with tenderness."

He said with more selling options becoming available alongside the opening of saleyards towards Charleville and New South Wales, there was hope for the industry in the future.