The Australian Agricultural Company and the Northern Territory Cattlemens Association have joined forces to call for a loan guarantee of $25 million from the Federal and NT Governments for the establishment of an NT Cattle Marketing Pool.

Under the NTCMP proposal, cattle producers would commit to sell cattle into the pool and receive 50 percent of the Port value of the stock, with the remainder of the value to be received progressively as cattle from the pool are sold, less any associated management costs.

The proposal is in response to the ongoing delays to the resumption of the live cattle export trade with Indonesia. It will provide Australian producers the ability to monetise cattle destined for live export and partially mitigate cash-flow disruptions which have occurred as a result of the ban.

AA Co chief executive David Farley urged the NT and Federal Governments to support the NTCMP proposal, which would require an initial seasonal Government loan guarantee of $25m.

“The Government cannot run the northern Australian herd on welfare. Cattle are living, breathing, grass-eating animals, they cannot wait for Centrelink payments,” Mr Farley said.

“Working capital shortages are being experienced across Northern Australia and an urgent commercial solution is required. As live export sales to Indonesia cannot be affected, values have been impacted and much of the northern herd is not suitable for the southern grazing conditions or southern markets,” he said.

Negotiations involving authorities in Indonesia and Australia, livestock producers, shippers, importers, feeders and ultimately abattoir operators would take time to successfully conclude before the trade with Indonesia could resume.

“In the meantime, the NTCMP would allow a marketing loan program to release capital to beef producers for immediate working capital requirements at little or limited risk to the community and Government. The NTCMP would be secured by legal commitments from producers to supply a set number of liveweight kilograms to a known destination port,” Mr Farley said.

“I call on the both the NT and Federal Government to support this commercial solution to the current situation, rather than just welfare payments. Immediate action is required,” he said.

• To view an NTCMP scoping document prepared by the NT Cattlemens Association, click here