So .... farming kangaroos are out ecconomically. Why not go into partnership with the Japanese and farm whales....?

Far fetched - no way after all they are only using them for scientific research after all - and we do have a history of co-operation in other fields as well.

Like I mean to say their troops were guarding our engineer in Burma some 60 years ago and now our troops are returning the favour by guarding their engineers in Iraq....

Or am I just being facetious again?

Ian,

I also have my doubts as to the feasibility of kangaroo farming but in fairness to its proponents how about reworking your figures on a more realistic proposition.

Fence a reasonably square 10000 hectares west of Nyngan, stock with roos and then see how in stacks up. Come to think of it, there is no need to budget for the initial stock, they are already there.
If you stock lightly to manage pasture and turn off kangaroos in good condition, your fences will have to be good enough to keep some of their mates out.

My doubts are decreasing.

I assume culling and harvesting would be carried out with a rifle in both scenarios. Numbers breed up quickly so the ‘herd’ can be culled to suit the availability of food, just as nature does.
On site processing, economies of scale, less erosion, how far they can travel to water, the ratio of bucks to does and so on are all factors to be considered.
You talk of realism, 120 hectares on the north coast of NSW.does not qualify as realistic.

Goeff, the economics will improve under a broadacre scenario but nowhere near enough because the carrying capacity of the land reduces accordingly. So there might be a reduced perimeter to area ratio on the broadacre site but there will be fewer 'roos/ha as well.

To use Ian's costings, a square 10,000ha property will need a fence that is 40km long times $15,000/km which equals $600,000 or $42,000 a year at 7% interest. Cut that into 6 paddocks and you add another 30km of fence at an outlay of $450,000 and another $31,500 in interest for a total of $73,500 a year, before maintenance.

The stocking rate is likely to drop to only 1 'roo/ha or a 10,000 'roo herd. So the interest on the fence, spread over the third (3,300) of 'roos sold will still work out at about $22.25 per animal.

And Ian left out the cost of capital on the remaining herd. You suggested that they are already there and therefore free, but this is not the case. If they could be sold today then they have a value and there must be a return on that value to justify keeping them for another year. Everyone else expects a return of at least 7% on their superannuation then the farmer has a right to expect the same rate of return on his herd.

The price of the herd will be set by the market. Even at the same price per kilogram as beef, 10,000 'roos at 31kg each at $2/kg would put the value of the herd at $620,000 and the return on that value would be $43,400 or another $13.15 for each animal sold.

We also know that 10,000 'roos and 70km of 2.4 metre fence will take more than one wage to look after. So when all the other elements are added up it still looks like an investment that a superannuation trustee would get sued for negligence for if he invested funds in it.

I will prefer to take a ute out west and shoot a few wild ones if ever I want to cook up a roo. It is much cheaper that this investment so ludicruous that no Pitt Street farmer would try it.

On an aside, has anyone tried to cook Koala before? Are there any restaurants that can do the hard work for me?

Also, much of the meat on a kangaroo is too tough to sell as more than pet food. The good cuts will be only a few kilos of the 30 odd you might get on an adult roo, and, even then, you'd have to cook them slowly over a few hours like you would braised lamb shanks to soften them up - unless you want to risk a tough steak. It's very nice.

When cities start producing exports to a degree vaguely similar to rural and regional Australia, then I might listen to criticisms of farmers for not investing in certain areas. Til then, as with most rural matters, it's best left to the farmers themselves.

Perseus,
I have done my time chasing flies [flyblown sheep], driving tractors and I know that farmers are among the most innovative risk-takers in Australia. So I know that if kangaroo farming was economical, someone would be having a go. I don’t think anybody is.

I have some knowledge with which to assess this piece and so I posted to point out what I consider to be a lack of realism in Ian’s piece.
This does not stop me being in agreement with his comment that’ the last thing they [farmers] need when dealing with the environmental challenges they face is the fatuous whimsies of half-baked urban planeteers’.

Thanks for the figures on the ‘Nyngan’ block. We controlled kangaroos with a standard sheep fence and a jump wire above so $15000/Km appears a bit excessive. Perhaps one of the ‘planeteers’ can present a budget showing kangaroo farming to be profitable.

When I'm told that I should be farming roo instead of sheep I just start to explain that the cattle & sheep you see when driving along the road are in fact nothing like the the wild animals from which they originated . The stock you see now are the product of generations of selective breeding to produce higher growth rates & particular caracteristics to suit meat & or fibre production . I then point out that very few if any of the types of animal that our current livestock are decendent of exist anywhere in their original wild state .
I then make the point that the same would almost certainly happen to our native kangaroo if farmed as after years & years of selective breeding , no grower could afford to have their herds of high quality doe's covered by native bucks breaking through & under fences & spoiling the uniformity of their joey's . Thus the farming of kangaroo would almost definitely result in the complete destruction all of wild stocks .
I then state that my preference is that our native kangaroo should stay exactly as they are .
By now interest in the subject has waned & we talk about something else .