MLA managing director Jason Strong at Bendigo – keep it in perspective.
LIVESTOCK producers were warned to keep weather and El Niño probability data in perspective with actual conditions and avoid the ‘weaponising’ of forecasts to negatively affect industry sentiment.
At the Meat and Livestock Australia Update in Bendigo today, MLA managing director Jason Strong said the industry could be profitable and look after the environment.
To the background of livestock market oversupply driven in part by fear of El Niño conditions, but recent and forecast rainfall across much of the country, Mr Strong said in the last year the sentiment or confidence in the industry and the market had got out of step with the physical conditions.
“It’s created a really difficult and challenging environment for us.
“This discussion around El Niño has been one that has been really destructive around the sentiment in the industry,” he said.
“I think some of it has come from having three fantastic years it was hard to believe that anything apart from a terrible result in the next year was going to be possible.
“There was so much discussion about El Niño must be coming next and it wasn’t until September when we actually got there…,” he said.
Mr Strong said the various weather maps showing the probability of having higher than average temperatures or of exceeding median rainfall levels needed to be kept in perspective.
“Having the knowledge about what happens or what is potentially happening with our environment are incredibly valuable tools, but they nearly get weaponised in the way that we actually think about the industry and the sentiment.
“It’s a terrible thing that we’ve seen impact on so much of the market sentiment this year,” he said.
“If you listen to some of the commentary or perspectives around El Nino it’s going to be hotter and drier and it’s never raining again – and that’s really not the case.”
He said the weather information was valuable and could help in managing resources and biomass.
“Keeping perspective around having so much more information is important for us.”
Mr Strong said the industry was experiencing challenging market conditions, but although livestock indicators were down year-on-year – about 50 percent, many had risen 20-35pc in the last 30 days.
“We don’t tend to celebrate the successes and the progresses, as well as we celebrate the negatives.”
No meat pricing questions for Woolworths director
Woolworths director Holly Kramer – climate is number one shareholder concern.
Woolworths director and sustainability chair Holly Kramer was not asked any questions about pricing of retail lamb and beef cuts after her presentation on ‘Sustainability from paddock to plate’ and after her session she told Sheep Central that she had not been briefed to answer questions on the subject.
Both major supermarket retailers have come under pressure over recent months over retail meat pricing that sits in stark contrast with dramatic falls in livestock prices since the start of the year.
Many had anticipated Ms Kramer’s attendance at today’s MLA AGM to lead to some dialogue on the matter.
Ms Kramer said agriculture was a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions – 20-25 percent – it also had an important role to play in the transition to a low carbon world and is increasingly the provider of some of the most important solutions.
Ms Kramer said she spent a lot of her time focussing on sustainability issues in her board roles on Woolworths, Fonterra, ANZ, genetic tech company Nbryo and advisory company Pollination.
She has been a full-time director since 2015 and in that time sustainability has grown from being a side issue to where in shareholder roadshows climate was the number one topic on the investors’ minds.
“And that’s all shareholders.”
She said directors had a fiduciary responsibility to their companies and had to recognise the risk that climate represented to their businesses, whether operationally or “the risk of not doing enough.”
She said mandatory reporting on emission requirements, risks and strategies is coming into New Zealand in 2024 and to Australia in 2025.
“We are also more exposed to the risk of doing nothing or overpromising, also known as greenwashing.”
Ms Kramer Australian farmers are proactively engaging in greenhouse gas solutions, but she urged farmers to become informed. She said farmers sometimes can sell their reductions as offsets but companies might want to use them as insets.
Something else that has been weaponised is satellite monitoring. Through MLA it is grass monitoring. That will come back to bite us.
ACF has already weaponised satellite monitoring for vegetation management and are harassing farmers.
“[Holly Kramer] said farmers sometimes can sell their reductions as offsets but companies might want to use them as insets.”
The arrogance of large companies expecting small to medium sized businesses to incur cost and labour to offset their objectives has been a thorn in my side for some time. The big guys have an objective so the small guys have to pay, and they are all doing it. They all look to agriculture and the arrogance is mind blowing. If we don’t stand up for ourselves we will all be performing like sideshow monkeys to their tune.
Well said boys. It is the height of hypocrisy when company’s such as this point the finger at agriculture and it’s potential contribution to these matters. For example their is vastly more methane and basic uncontrolled waste coming from landfills the world over. All of these numbers that get bandied about is appalling especially from people in such high places. Cheers Matthew Della Gola
One person said there going to be El Nino and the backside falls out of the cattle market if that not market manipulation i know nothing
Sentiment should never be under-estimated as a very big driver of livestock prices, Tom. Remember last year’s Lumpy Skin Disease events in Indonesia, when the Australian cattle markets suffered a short, but severe drop in value over fears the disease was about to invade our shores. Four or five weeks after the ‘risk’ was first raised, the market was back to normal. Editor
Unfortunately, public companies hide behind the story that consumers have climate change high on their agenda, the truth be known it is the cost of food that is of most concern to them. The Woolworths and Coles of this world couldn’t care less about food producers, consumers or the climate for that matter, it’s all about making a dollar for shareholders. And while that is all well and good, the directors of these companies need to understand where their profits come from, the demonising of food producers. Maybe they should also pay attention to what it takes to keep agriculture profitable and sustainable, that will provide the real driver for ag to deliver on the so called climate change agenda. A balanced approach to climate change is the only way forward not the single-minded, guns blazing, way in which it is being handled at the moment.
One good bit of advice deserves another.
“Beware the weaponisation of climate change, carbon, methane, deforestation, defenestration etc. MLA”
Absolutely! Its actually scary the power Woolworths have in pushing an ideology that only the rich and really dumb or misinformed embrace. The more people have to pull their belts in the less irrelevant carbon BS becomes. Everyone wants to fight climate change till they have to pay for it themselves.