Sheep meat consumption According to the OECD, the consumption of sheep's meat—including both lamb and mutton—is most popular in Kazakhstan, Australia, and Turkey.
Australia's love of lamb has been shared with the rest of the world for decades for its buttery flavour and delicate texture, whether it's sliced medium-rare for a light salad, slow-cooked in a Massaman curry or sous vide for a butter-soft backstrap.
Mongolia, Turkmenistan, New Zealand, Iceland and Greece are the countries where the biggest eaters of sheep and goats live. An average Mongolian eats nearly 50 kg of sheep and goat meat a year, according to Faostat.
Lamb is a staple in Mediterranean, Indian, Irish, Italian, Middle Eastern, and North African cuisines. Barbacoa — pit-barbecued lamb — is a popular dish in Mexico, while roasted lamb leg is the national dish of Australia.
The country that has the highest level of consumption is Kazakhstan with a rate of 8.2 kilograms per person.
“Australia currently has three times as many sheep as New Zealand, though their ratio is only around three sheep to every Aussie,” Attewell said.
Western Australia (WA) produces some of the finest lamb, mutton and wool in the world and exports to over 100 countries. Sheep are produced in the south west of the State on broadacre farms, with world class welfare, food safety and environmentally responsible systems.
Australian Lamb:
“Aussie” lamb has become a very popular item today. It has been cross-bred with American lamb to create a larger more consistent product. Not too many years ago Aussie lamb was very undesirable. The lambs were raised primarily for their wool and the meat was almost a by-product of that industry.
Sheep are not native to Australia—they were brought to Australia in 1788 by the First Fleet to provide food for the new colony. The majority of sheep were in mainland colonies and the numbers of sheep grew quickly as the colonists opened up land suitable for grazing.
Lamb and mutton meats are from sheep, and goat meat is from goats. This is true for most countries unless you're in South Asia ( India ), Australia, or Jamaica. In India, the meat from a goat can also be referred to as mutton or sheep interchangeably. However, this is not the case in the United States and Europe.
While red meat has traditionally taken pride of place at the centre of the Aussie dinner table, we're now eating half as much lamb as in the 1980s and two-thirds the amount of beef, but nearly 2.5 times as much chicken and twice as much pork.
The majority of sheep killed in Australia are lambs, slaughtered around 6 – 8 months of age. Sheep can naturally live up to 20 years, with a typical lifespan of 10-12 years. Every year an average of 22.72 million lambs are slaughtered.
Sheep outnumber people in New Zealand. Outranked only by China and Australia, the country is one of the biggest sheep producers in the world and is well-known for its high-quality lamb.
Aussies actually eat Kanagroo meat. You'll see them packed on supermarket shelves and on restaurant menus. Kangaroo is lean red meat, it's healthy and you can prepare it in many ways – steaks, burgers, sausages, and much more.
DOMESTIC VS.
The lamb that you buy in the store comes from a few different places—both domestic and imported. Domestic lamb is distinguished by its larger size and milder flavor, while lamb imported from Australia or New Zealand features a gamier taste.
Roast lamb has been declared Australia's national dish in a major poll that shows we're still a country of meat eaters at heart.
Victoria is Australia's largest sheep meat producer, producing around half (46%) of Australian sheep meat followed by NSW (28%).
Woolworths fresh lamb is 100% Australian. Only 20% of Woolworths' lambs are sourced from accredited saleyards with 80% sourced straight from the farm.
For this reason all cattle, sheep and goats processed in Australia destined for the Middle East market are slaughtered under the Australian Government Supervised Halal Program by accredited Muslims. This program is administered by the Federal Department of Agriculture.
Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams.
Rockhampton is the Beef Capital of Australia. With a long history of beef production, two major abattoirs and 10 Bull statues in key locations across the city this tour will give you the opportunity to pull on your cowboy boots, channel your inner jackaroo and who knows maybe even ride a bull!
The predominant breed of sheep in Australia is the Merino. The Merino was first introduced into Australia in 1797 and has over the years developed for wool production. It has also been used for cross breeding with British Long Wool & Short Wool Breeds for mutton and prime lamb production.
Rawlinna Station in Western Australia is the largest sheep station in Australia.
'World's cutest sheep' Valais blacknose makes long-awaited flight to Tasmania.