Mutton is a valuable stand alone industry

摘要

Mutton! Have you ever asked yourself the question, "Where does all that mutton go?" Next time the gravy from a meat pie dribbles down your front or you tuck into a pizza or line up at a sausage sizzle ask the question again. Australia is the largestproducer of sheepmeat in the world, responsible for about nine per cent of the world's total production. About 330,000 tonnes of carcase mutton was produced in Australia last year from about 15 million sheep. Our export customers purchase about 75 percent of production, leaving about 85,000 tonnes to be consumed domestically. Each year, each Australian consumes almost six kilograms of mutton, often without realising it. For many years brokers, meat traders and middlemen mysteriously managed the transferof products from cold storage to end users. As a result few people involved in the production and marketing of sheep had any understanding of the trading mechanisms or of the range of products that are produced.