News

Cattle Council sets goals, deadlines in new industry plan

James Nason 13/02/2013

The Cattle Council of Australia has set June 2014 as its deadline to have in place a new structure that encompasses direct membership, direct elections and direct participation by grassroots members in national policy setting.

The target is contained in a document released by CCA yesterday called “Beef 2015 and Beyond”, the newly developed national strategy for Australia’s grassfed cattle sector, and the culmination of an extensive consultation process with industry stakeholders last year.

In the words of CCA president Andrew Ogilvie, the document sets out key performance indicators and target deadlines to ensure the plan is “not all hot air” and clearly outlines what CCA “plans to do, how we plan to do it, and how we’re going to measure what we plan to do”.

The plan identifies 18 strategic imperatives that CCA believes need to be addressed between now and 2015 to position Australia’s grassfed cattle sector for the future.

Part of that process involves restructuring Cattle Council to provide a body that is seen as more representative and relevant to the majority of grassfed cattle producers across Australia, and has the funding it needs to ensure it can adequately represent their interests, 

Cattle Council currently operates on a budget of $1.3 million, funded principally by contributions from the Red Meat Industry Fund and State Farm Organisation membership fees, but has stated that more money is needed to do its job properly.

The organisation has set a June 2014 deadline to achieve a sustainable funding model of more than $3 million, and one which has the support of industry and Government.

The council is meeting in Canberra this week to progress the formation of a cross-sectoral restructure implementation committee and to discuss possible funding models. 

Cattle Council had set its sights on accessing a portion of the $5/head cattle transaction levy, under a voluntary system that would give producers the ability to choose whether to direct a percentage of their compulsory levy payments to CCA for national representation.

However Mr Ogilvie conceded to Beef Central yesterday that while that option was still on the table, it was looking increasingly less likely.

“We thought we may be able to access levy funding through the Government but that doesn’t appear likely so we need to find a way to progress our next stage,” Mr Ogilvie said.

“It has been made more difficult than we thought, it is still one of the options on the table, but possibly not the most achievable option at this stage, and  it may need a slightly different approach.”

Mr Ogilvie said the new strategic plan meant that CCA would focus on specific areas and its progress in achieving each goal could now also be measured.

For example, Market Access was identified by producers through the consultation phase as the single most important issue for the industry to address.

“Market Access” is a broad and vague term in itself, so the new document contains specific actions for CCA to undertake as it endeavours to improve market access issues outcomes.

Mr Ogilvie said CCA leaders will travel to Korea as part of an industry delegation in early March for negations aimed at getting Free Trade Agreement negotiations “back on track”, and will work to build relations with Japanese beef producers to assist in Australia’s FTA negotiations with Japan.

He said CCA is also about to launch its pasturefed cattle assurance program, for which it hopes to gain USDA verification, which will provide greater access to the lucrative US grassfed niche market.

The document covers areas such as monitoring consumer perceptions about the industry, managing R&D to assist producers to increase productivity, the development of best management practices for grazing enterprises, staying ahead of biosecurity risks, minimising regulatory impacts and government measures that distort trade. 

The full document can be read by clicking here

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