In an extraordinary span of drought and fire it is hard to believe that one western NSW meat commodity has doubled in price in a year.
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The delivered price of commercially harvested kangaroo has doubled from 60 cents a kilo to $1.10/kg (with tail) in just over a year.
The driver of the price boom has been South Australian-based kangaroo meat processor Macro Meats, that is taking "the risk" that putting up the price will make their product more attractive overseas and domestically.
But part of the price surge has not just been caused at retail level to encourage a consumer based selection of prime Kangaroo meat cuts, but also a surge in pet food demand, with the big interest from cat owners attracted by the unique amino acids in kangaroo meat.
Macro Meats is also going all out to use all parts of the kangaroo, from prime cuts, to parts of the tail, to skins for leather. There are now kangaroo Ugg "roo boots", retailing at nearly $200 (through Ugg Australia).
The company is also using new meat processing procedures such as ageing the meat on the roo by hanging carcases with the skin on by the legs to improve meat quality.
Although kangaroo numbers have declined because of the drought, Macro Meats company director Ray Borda told The Land, kangaroos were one of the victors of the drought.
"We have had fat kangaroos come to us for processing in the middle of the drought," he said.
"Kangaroos are smart and move for survival. We have seen that in many states. In South Australia they have moved from the North-east to better places in the south-east, they have moved out of Upper Western NSW into eastern areas."
Mr Borda saw growing interest in kangaroo meat in Europe, Asia and the US. Asian demand had increased with the spread of swine fever ruining pork supplies.
It hoped to make kangaroo meat equal to venison in price and consumer attractiveness, and at some stage even rival goats for harvest prices.
Other kangaroo meat processors were also matching Macro Meats offer.
The kangaroo industry though was forced to counter an attack on the industry by Australian animal rights groups who visited the European Union again to claim that the EU should not buy kangaroo meat, especially in light of the bushfires, where wildlife had been decimated.
"We had to go and tell them (the EU) what the truth is," Mr Borda said.
Mr Borda said the commercial industry faced pressure from NSW Government laws that allowed farmers to shoot more roos on farm, hurting supply for commercial harvesters.
He wanted a situation where only commercial harvesters eventually operated. He said the non-commercial cull had devastated the roo population and that it only let methane escape into the atmosphere from rotting carcases. Many harvesters had left the industry due to low prices.
But Pastoralists' Association of West Darling president Lachlan Gall said this would be a bad move for farmers if only commercial harvesters could take roos.
Mr Gall said: "My consistent message is that the commercial industry is part of the problem, not part of the solution, and that sort of attitude will encourage farmers to adopt alternative control methods (eg: fencing) that will permanently reduce kangaroo populations to sustainable levels."
He welcomed though the price rise. He said the meat price for a long time had not been enough to encourage harvesters to get out there and cull roos. He hoped the rise might change this.
Pastoralists have been upset that the drought has seen hundreds of thousands of kangaroos suffer because their numbers had risen out of control and now in drought they couldn't find food.