A grazier and outback mayor is calling for more abattoirs to kill and process goats, saying it will create greater competition and lead to more consistent prices.

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Andrew Lewis, Mayor of Bourke in north-west New South Wales, said the industry had potential to expand and cater for the huge international demand for goat meat, but said producers needed a reliable processing chain and stable prices.

According to Cr Lewis, if producers were to be encouraged to invest in fencing infrastructure, they needed to be confident of a steady market and prices, saying there was a need for greater competition.

"At the moment there's only a few processors. As soon as there's a few too many goats, the price drops and people aren't willing to go and chase the goats.

"If you could keep a steady market, steady price, people would actually farm goats," Cr Lewis said.

"So there'd be the numbers there, as long as producers knew they'd get a reasonable price for them."

Global goat meat shortage

Meat and Livestock Australia's (MLA) end of year report said the low Australian dollar, strong international demand for goat meat and short supply of livestock in eastern states, led to record prices in 2015.

Its over-the-hook goat indicator for eastern states finished 141 cents higher than last year, ending on an average of 504 cents per kilogram in December 2015.

MLA has also used the strong market in 2015 to encourage more producers to farm goats within specially fenced paddocks, to create a more consistent supply of animals for export across the year.

Bourke is attempting to forward a proposal to build a $60 million goat abattoir on a greenfield site on the outskirts of the community.

Last month the Federal Government committed $10 million to help the shire improve road, water and power infrastructure in the region to support the project.

A western Queensland abattoir and goat meat exporter, 400 kilometres north of Bourke, criticised the proposal this month.

It sourced 70 per cent of its goats from northern New South Wales, and warned the construction of a new facility so close to Queensland would jeopardise jobs across the border.

Cr Lewis said there were enough goats to go around and a new abattoir would provide the stability producers needed to make the transition to farming goats full-time.

"Twenty years ago you didn't know if you were going to get paid or what the prices were going to be, but that's certainly improved over the last few years," he said.

"If there's another processor and those prices stayed up, people would be very interested in actually fencing and farming goats.

"You've got to spend a fair bit of money to put up fences and the next thing you know the market will drop because the processors are playing games," Cr Lewis said.

"If you knew you had a bit of competition and the price kept up ... and you could run a lot more."