Australia: Australia's Rise to Wool and Sheep Meat Dominance

Australia has been a world powerhouse of high-quality wool production and exports for over 150 years. The industry now exports around 323,000 metric tons (MT) of wool valued at about US$2.3 billion - more than any other wool exporter. After the collapse of the wool reserve price scheme in 1991 the industry turned its attention to sheep meat production, and Australia is now the largest sheep meat exporter in the world. Australia exports 730,000 MT carcass weight equivalent (CWE) meat valued at US$3.2 billion. With continued efforts in breeding specifically for sheep meat production, experts anticipate further productivity improvements in the coming years and, with this, a further strengthening of Australia’s dominant sheep meat export position.