Livestock species
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development supports the economic success of several livestock industries, in particular the beef, sheep, dairy and pork industries. There are just under 15 million sheep located primarily in the agricultural region, producing high quality meat and wool for world markets. The sheep meat market is worth $500 million, of which about half is for live exports with the remainder slaughtered locally, and a further $500 million comes from wool exports.
Of the two million head of beef cattle, approximately half are located in the south west (mainly for local slaughter) and the remainder in the north (mainly for live export). Total value of the beef industry is $517 million per year. The dairy industry, worth $140 million per year, is located in the high rainfall south west region and has internationally competitive production costs.
The pork industry is primarily located in the northern and central agricultural regions, with a total value of $130 million per year of which approximately 20% comes from exports to Singapore. The poultry industry has 8.5 million birds and is mainly focused on the domestic market for both eggs ($60 million) and chicken meat ($130 million).
Other livestock species that are farmed but make a relatively small contribution to the total value of the livestock industry include goats and alpacas.
Filter by search
Filter by topic
- (-) Remove Livestock management filter Livestock management
- Sheep (118) Apply Sheep filter
- Management & reproduction (59) Apply Management & reproduction filter
- Pests, weeds & diseases (39) Apply Pests, weeds & diseases filter
- Feeding & nutrition (39) Apply Feeding & nutrition filter
- Diseases (36) Apply Diseases filter
- Livestock health & diseases (35) Apply Livestock health & diseases filter
- Beef cattle (35) Apply Beef cattle filter
- Biosecurity & quarantine (27) Apply Biosecurity & quarantine filter
- Biosecurity (26) Apply Biosecurity filter
- Livestock disease surveillance (25) Apply Livestock disease surveillance filter
- Livestock research & development (21) Apply Livestock research & development filter
- Livestock parasites (21) Apply Livestock parasites filter
- Livestock biosecurity (21) Apply Livestock biosecurity filter
- Crops (18) Apply Crops filter
- Pastures (16) Apply Pastures filter
- Genetics & selection (13) Apply Genetics & selection filter
- Pigs (11) Apply Pigs filter
- Pasture management (9) Apply Pasture management filter
- Climate, land & water (9) Apply Climate, land & water filter
- Dairy cattle (8) Apply Dairy cattle filter
- Land use (6) Apply Land use filter
- Rangelands (5) Apply Rangelands filter
- Stockfeed (4) Apply Stockfeed filter
- Resource assessment (4) Apply Resource assessment filter
- Emergency animal disease preparedness (4) Apply Emergency animal disease preparedness filter
- Poultry & birds (4) Apply Poultry & birds filter
- Goats (4) Apply Goats filter
- Meat quality (3) Apply Meat quality filter
- Livestock movement & identification (3) Apply Livestock movement & identification filter
- State Barrier Fence (3) Apply State Barrier Fence filter
- Food, export & investment (3) Apply Food, export & investment filter
- Invasive species (3) Apply Invasive species filter
- Irrigated crops (2) Apply Irrigated crops filter
- Mechanical, physical and cultural (2) Apply Mechanical, physical and cultural filter
- Pests (2) Apply Pests filter
- Horses (2) Apply Horses filter
- Wildlife biosecurity (2) Apply Wildlife biosecurity filter
- Pasture species (2) Apply Pasture species filter
- Climate change (2) Apply Climate change filter
- Agricultural exports (2) Apply Agricultural exports filter
- Emergency response (2) Apply Emergency response filter
- Animal welfare (2) Apply Animal welfare filter
- Climate & weather (2) Apply Climate & weather filter
- Control methods (2) Apply Control methods filter
- Fungi (1) Apply Fungi filter
- Agribusiness Food & Trade (1) Apply Agribusiness Food & Trade filter
- Breeding & varieties (1) Apply Breeding & varieties filter