DPI Services to Beef and Sheep Producers
August 2011
ISBN 978-1-74264-898-9 (print)
ISBN 978-1-74264-899-6 (online)
Foreword
The beef cattle and sheep industries in Victoria have a farmgate value of over $2.5 billion and exports of approximately $1.9 billion per annum. They are a significant contributor to the state’s economy.
The Victorian Government – through the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) – provides a range of services to the beef and sheep industries to support their development. DPI’s primary role is to promote economic development in a way that also supports environmental sustainability and community capacity to manage change.
This document, DPI services to beef and sheep producers, aims to clearly outline DPI’s strategic context and the services we provide to beef and sheep producers. These include research, development, extension, regulatory and emergency management services. It is an update of the services document released in 2010, and we have incorporated feedback received from stakeholders over the last year. DPI also has a significant policy role that helps support and guide service delivery.
DPI is strengthening the way we deliver services. Our Services to Farmers strategy is helping to ensure we provide targeted and accessible services, that are relevant to the needs of farm businesses.
We are also building our collaborations with a range of other service providers including catchment management authorities (CMAs), agribusiness, industry associations and other key stakeholder groups.
A National Sheepmeat Research, Development and Extension Strategy has been developed under the guidance of the Primary Industries Ministerial Council and the Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA). This will see DPI focus service delivery on Victoria’s sheepmeat industry priorities as part of a coordinated national approach. Beef and wool strategies are currently being finalised.
This document has been developed with input from a number of industry partners and DPI is committed to continuing to work closely with stakeholders to ensure the beef and sheep industries are well placed to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Richard Bolt
Secretary
Department of Primary Industries
Introduction
Emerging markets and the availability of new technologies and business practices are providing opportunities for many beef and sheep producers.
Yet they also face challenges from climate variability, declining productivity growth and increased competition from overseas producers. To maintain existing markets and address concerns regarding animal welfare, they require access to relevant information and services, when and where they need it.
DPI’s task is to focus our service delivery where a core role for government exists and to boost our collaboration with other service providers.
This document aims to clearly outline the context for DPI’s operations and to describe the 12 key services we provide to beef and sheep producers in 2011–12.
DPI has developed this document based on a thorough analysis of our role and expertise, as well as input from a range of industry stakeholders. The intent is to update this document regularly based on feedback and an evaluation of the previous year’s plan.
This document’s target audience is industry partners, other service providers and DPI staff. It has been designed to help clarify DPI’s role, minimise any duplication of effort and help identify specific collaborative opportunities.
An environment of change
The sheep industry is now recovering from the past decade’s dry seasonal conditions that caused sheep numbers to fall sharply. The weaker global demand for wool and low wool prices during the past few years led many producers to shift their focus from wool to lamb and/or grain production, although demand for wool is now rising.
Demand for lamb has grown steadily during the past two decades, helped along by factors such as genetic improvement, and the development of the US market for heavier, leaner lamb. Lamb prices have remained buoyant and high sheep slaughter rates associated with record lamb prices means that the lamb industry is now seriously constrained by animal supply.
Demand for red meat products is forecast to remain steady in markets such as Japan and the US and grow in emerging markets such as Russia. The Asian market is growing rapidly as people become more affluent. In developed countries, an increasingly time-poor, quality-conscious and ageing population will provide market opportunities for product differentiation.
Consumer attitudes towards agriculture and food production are also changing, with growing interest and concern about issues including mulesing, live animal exports and methane emissions from ruminants. This is providing opportunities for product differentiation, such as red meat and wool products that demonstrate animal welfare, environmental credentials and product integrity.
Industry challenges and opportunities
After a decade of dry seasonal conditions, followed by heavy rainfall and associated flooding, the beef and sheep industries in southern Australia continue to face significant challenges, but also some emerging opportunities.
Low productivity growth
In recent years productivity growth in the red meat and wool industries has fallen to one per cent a year or less. This decline has been attributed to a number of factors including the prolonged drought, lower rates of technology adoption, reduced investment in R&D and the large number of relatively small farms. Red meat and wool industries need to achieve annual productivity growth of about three per cent a year, to counter rising input costs and declining terms of trade. Numerous studies have highlighted the significant variation in performance of different beef and sheep businesses, for profitability and productivity.
Competition and fluctuations in markets
The global market for red meat products is becoming increasingly complex and competitive. Existing competitors such as Brazil and other South American countries are growing in importance, while China and some eastern European countries are emerging as new competitors.The expanding middle class in Asia, the subcontinent and the Middle East is anticipated to increase demand for protein, particularly meat products. However, the red meat industry is also facing increased competition from alternative meat products, such as chicken and pork.The wool industry continues to face competition from alternative products such as cotton and synthetic fibres, although growth in demand occurred in 2010. External factors, particularly currency exchange rates and energy prices, account for significant fluctuations in red meat and wool markets.
Climate variability and associated policies
The impact of climate variability on southern Australia is predicted to be severe. Potential implications include reduced rainfall, more intense storm events, greater rainfall variability and evaporation, increased water scarcity and an altered distribution and risk profile for plant and animal pests and diseases.
As a significant source of methane, the red meat and wool industries will come under increased pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and policies to achieve this may result in higher costs for energy, fuel and fertilisers. As a result, enhanced productivity and improved management of natural resources are likely to become more important.
Competition for natural resources
Rising land prices have affected red meat and wool producers, limiting opportunities for productive expansion. High land values also mean the return on investment for some beef cattle and sheep farms is low compared with some alternative land uses.
Biosecurity risks
The Biosecurity Strategy for Victoria emphasises the importance of having an effective incursion response capability in place in Victoria, including livestock identification and tracking systems. To contain and promptly eradicate serious diseases – such as foot and mouth disease, anthrax or transmissible spongiform encephalopathy – Australia needs an effective tracking system for all susceptible species. The National Livestock Identification System (Sheep and Goats) needs to be enhanced to ensure it is effective in a disease emergency and meets export market requirements as they arise.Although amenity or lifestyle properties make a relatively small contribution to production, the number of new (and often part-time) farmers in the amenity segment can pose particular challenges due to the lower level of awareness about biosecurity obligations.
Social change and labour shortage
The rural population is ageing and many younger people are migrating to urban centres to seek employment. The declining population in rural towns, as well as the continuing trend of fewer but larger farms, is leading to a shortage of labour and skills in some areas. Compared with beef production and cropping, sheep production is seen by many as labour intensive and difficult to integrate with off-farm employment.
Meeting consumers’ needs and maintaining market access
The evolving expectations of red meat and wool consumers in relation to animal welfare, chemical residues and carbon emissions need to be continually monitored. The public response to the export of live cattle to Indonesia in mid 2011 is a recent example. Others include the sheep industry’s response to concerns about mulesing, other husbandry practices (including lamb mortality) and livestock transport.
DPI’s investment context
Strategy-driven outcomes and investments
DPI’s vision is to enable the state’s primary industries to sustainably build Victoria’s wealth and wellbeing. Our strategic plan identifies three headline outcomes to achieve this vision:
- competitive businesses and efficient markets
- sustainably managed natural resources
- engaged, safe and responsible communities.
- increasing productivity and net value (Outcome 1)
- growing market access (Outcome 2)
- sustaining the natural resource base (Outcome 3)
- protecting and enhancing community resources (Outcome 4)
Role of Government
A major role of government is to invest in important areas (for society) where industry and individuals under-invest due to their inability to capture sufficient or exclusive direct benefits. DPI determines investment priorities and evaluates projects through a rigorous investment process, which considers ‘market failure’ and the likelihood of net benefits arising from the investment.
In allocating funds to projects, DPI also considers the level of industry support. That is, we seek co-investment from industry in proportion to the direct benefit industry is likely to receive from such investment. Where industry and private benefits predominantly arise from a project, we are unlikely to invest, given that society at large is unlikely to be a key beneficiary. To this end, DPI seeks to complement but not compete with the private sector, which is often better-placed to provide services that lead to direct enterprise-level profitability outcomes.
| Primary industry sector sustainably building Victoria’s wealth and wellbeing | DPI Vision | |||
| ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | ||
| Competitive business and effective markets | Sustainably managed natural resource | Engaged, safe and responsible communities | DPI Headline Outcomes | |
| ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | |
| Outcome 1 Increasing productivity and net value |
Outcome 2 Growing market ccess |
Outcome 3 Sustaining the natural resource base |
Outcome 4 Protecting and enhancing community resources |
Agriculture and Fisheries Strategic Outcomes |
Investing in Victoria’sbeef and sheep industries
DPI invests more than $180 million annually in research, development, extension (R,D&E) and regulatory services for the agriculture and fisheries sector.
This includes an investment of around $13 million in R,D&E activities directly related to the red meat and wool industries. This investment is complemented by co-investment of about $4.5 million a year from industry and the Australian Government, mainly through Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation.
DPI also invests more than $50 million a year in R,D&E and regulation with regard to cross-industry issues, such as climate variability, invasive plants and animals and biosecurity. Included in this effort are partnerships with CMAs delivering irrigation efficiency and farm planning projects aimed at limiting the off-farm impacts on Victoria’s statewide, high priority environmental assets.
The National Primary Industries Research, Development and Extension Framework aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the national R,D&E effort through better collaboration and a focus on national priorities. The framework’s intent is to provide a national focus on research, regional focus on development and local focus on extension.
DPI Victoria is working with industry in a lead role for animal welfare under the national R,D&E framework and has a joint lead role with NSW DPI for sheep meat R,D&E.
DPI is currently building capability in lamb R,D&E, including investing in a centre of excellence at Hamilton. We will remain a major investor in animal welfare research, and will provide extension services related to beef and wool.
Aligned with the framework, DPI will retain and build research capability in fields strategically important to the national red meat industry, and will seek opportunities to work collaboratively with other R,D&E organisations. At the same time, we will exit those areas served better by industry and other organisations.
DPI’s priorities for the beef and sheepindustries in 2011–12
Productivity
- Application of advanced genetic technologies to develop new germplasm and ultimately new pasture plant and forage varieties. Current research aims to develop new pasture varieties with improved disease resistance and drought tolerance as well as higher digestibility, yield and nutritive value.
- Development of new genetic and genomic technologies to develop new selection criteria and tools to improve the performance of cattle and sheep (e.g. Australian Sheep Breeding Values) in collaboration with industry and CRCs.
- Development of enhanced lamb production systems that increase productivity, including improving the feed base, feed efficiency and reproduction and survival rates. Also a continued increase in carcass weight to specifications and meat quality.
- Development of more sustainable lamb production systems by better understanding the relationships between livestock, forage and biophysical features. Also farm modelling with a research focus on nutrient losses, enhancing water and nutrient use efficiency, maintaining and improving soil health, strategic use of perennials and enhanced species diversity.
- Development of management practices based on seasonal triggers to ensure production systems are flexible and adaptable to climate variability.
Market and business development
- Improving lamb quality and composition by better understanding the relationships between on-farm feeding systems and livestock management, combined with preslaughter curfew and lairage, stunning and post-slaughter temperature, pH, hanging and packing management.
- Providing of accurate and timely farm-level economic and productivity data for mixed farming and specific industries (wool, lamb, beef) in key regions, to provide producers, government and industry with relevant benchmarks to guide decision making.
- Training to identify livestock business profit drivers, determining cost of production and livestock marketing options.
- Facilitation of demonstration value-chain development projects (particularly for lamb) and market intelligence related to red meat products in priority export markets.
Biosecurity preparedness
- Support to minimise potential biosecurity disruptions to market access through effective disease surveillance, enhanced emergency animal disease preparedness, product integrity and traceability programs.
- Advice and regulation for production animal welfare, such as demonstration of approaches that improve welfare outcomes and reduce mortality.
- Minimising the threats from invasive plant and animal species through compliance, communication and surveillance.
- Support for new and lifestyle landholders to inform them of their production options and land management and biosecurity responsibilities.
Sustainability and natural resource management
- Design of lower greenhouse-gas-emitting sheep production systems through increased production efficiency, new forage and feeding combinations and improved animal and on-farm nitrogen management.
- Providing information on soil carbon sequestration, through the investigation of current carbon levels and variability in Victorian soils and the ability to sequester and store carbon in livestock production systems and soils.
Skills and industry capability development
- Establishing and maintaining the infrastructure for producer group networks, including support for training, on-farm demonstrations, decision making and practice change, such as Bestwool/Bestlamb, BetterBeef, Beef Profit Partnerships, EverGraze, More Beef from Pastures and Making More from Sheep.
- Conducting training programs and workshops to help grazing enterprises through improved monitoring of ewe condition, allocation of feed resources and optimal nutrition strategies, programs to achieve adoption of improved sheep and cattle grazing management, and workshops on the development of sheep and cattle breeding plans.
- Supporting producers to plan and make more informed decisions in a whole-farm context, so that they can prepare for the impacts of climate variability, enhance the productive capacity of their land and water resources and minimise off-site impacts.
- Support for producers to manage the impacts of dry seasonal conditions and floods, including whole-farm planning services to support decision making and approaches to minimise environmental impacts, maintain animal welfare and manage stock water needs.
- Information for industry, local government and community on intensive animal finishing systems and feedlots, and on codes of practice and animal welfare issues.
Emergency management
- Support for livestock producers to prepare for and manage the impacts of natural disaster emergencies including response and recovery from floods, drought, locusts and bushfires.
DPI’s service delivery context
DPI works in partnership with other service providers to build capability and deliver targeted, accessible and relevant services to Victoria’s beef and sheep growers.
Our key principles are to:
- target services to achieve greatest benefit for Victoria
- focus on public benefit, with industry funding supporting industry benefits
- consider who is best placed to deliver services
- not compete with effective private providers or community groups
- grow the capability of our staff and the service provider sector as a whole
- manage risks to ensure our service delivery strategy is successful.
DPI regularly consults with the livestock industry to define needs and future services. We use six key approaches to inform the design and delivery of services:
- research – the discovery of new knowledge and technologies
- development – the testing and modification of new knowledge and technologies at a regional level
- retailing information – providing information direct to farmers (i.e. end-users)
- wholesaling information – packaging information on research and development results and new practices for ‘retail’ service providers (e.g. private consultants, community groups)
- signposting – referring farmers and service providers to other (non-DPI) sources of information and services
- regulation – to achieve compliance with government legislation.
DPI ‘retails’ services where net public benefits arise and/or where industry co-invests in service delivery. Specifically, we will:
- provide one-on-one services to farmers for compliance and land and water management planning, but usually not provide one-on-one business or productivity consultancies, unless there are exceptional circumstances (which may include fire, flood, hail, locusts, frost or drought)
- work, often in partnership with other providers, to facilitate and deliver information in group discussions, where this method is most effective for the target audience
- increase the use of online service delivery, including improved content delivery systems (e.g. targeted webinars, farmview videos and blogs)
- continue to include farm visits in the induction and training of our field staff.
Context for the beef and sheep industries
DPI will focus on providing relevant information on R,D&E results through network programs such as Bestwool/Bestlamb, EverGraze and BetterBeef. We will also ramp-up information packaging and service delivery to other service providers (wholesaling). Wholesaling strategies will be used where they will deliver the greatest impact, taking into account the type of service and the other service providers. The terms ‘retail’ and ‘wholesale’ are descriptions of the process, and don’t represent commercial activities.Services to livestock producers that we believe are best delivered by other providers include:
- on-ground agronomic and animal husbandry support services where the technical information is already widely available
- specific, tailored business advice for individual livestock businesses.
DPI will continue to monitor for exotic pests and diseases at the border and post-border and intervene to minimise these threats. We will work with producers and industry bodies to implement animal disease surveillance and reporting systems. On-farm and border surveillance are crucial for early detection of exotics and validation of specific disease status for certification purposes.
DPI administers the following legislation relevant to the beef and sheep industries:
- Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986
- Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1992
- Meat Industry Act 1993
- Stock (Seller Liability and Declarations) Act 1993
- Impounding of Livestock Act 1994
- Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994
In addition, developing and implementing industry and government co-regulatory arrangements will receive greater emphasis. These will help manage any emerging biosecurity threats. The intent of the Livestock Management Act 2010 is to encourage the development and uptake of industry quality assurance
DPI services to beef and sheep producers in 2011–12
DPI offers 12 specific services to beef and sheep producers and their service providers. The services (third column) and their alignment to DPI strategic outcomes are shown below. These services are detailed in full on the following pages.
