THE current review of the Cattle Transaction Levy is not a simple question of whether the 20-year-old flat-rate $5 per head levy should go up, stay the same or go down.

Rather, the process now underway, as explained in the first face-to-face meetings with producers in Central Queensland last week, is looking more broadly into funding structures, spending mixes and whether “full value” is being extracted from the existing $5 levy before questions of quantum changes are more deeply considered.

Cattle Australia CEO Will Evans said five broad principles have been developed by the review committee to guide and shape industry discussion on the levy under the review.

The first of the five principles (all five are outlined in this CA document) goes right to the heart of the issue, stating that there is “unrealised value within the levy system currently that is a priority to unlock and secure”.

“It’s a focus of the committee and of the Cattle Australia board to make sure that we don’t leave any money on the table,” Mr Evans told the meeting at Theodore which Beef Central attended last week. CQ Meetings were also held at Moranbah, Clarke Creek, Bauhinia and Buckland, with more meetings this week underway in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. A total of 36 will be held across Australia through until the end of August (See full list at bottom of this article).

“One of the first principles that we started with is before anyone talks about or considers a change  in the levy – – our question on your behalf is – is there existing value that we haven’t fully unlocked, that we need to prioritize – before we talk about anything else,” Mr Evans told the Theodore meeting.

The meeting heard that the current $5/head levy is generating a significant amount of money, with an average of 13 million cattle transactions a year translating into about $65 million of direct levy funding annually.

So how is money “being left on the table” in the current system?

One of the key examples identified at Theodore centred on research funding, where it was explained that industry is currently failing to capture the full value of matching funding available under the existing levy system.

Around $11-12 million of the approximately $65 million generated annually through the $5/head cattle transaction levy is currently allocated to research and development.

Because those producer levies attract matching Commonwealth funding, that effectively doubles the funding available for levy-funded research projects to around $22-$25 million each year.

However, there is also a second pathway for accessing Government matching funds through the MLA Donor Company, which matches eligible private-sector investment in research and commercialisation projects. That program has grown rapidly and is expected to facilitate about $100 million worth of research projects over the next 12 months.

Under Australia’s rural R&D funding model, the Commonwealth will match eligible industry research investment up to a ceiling equivalent to 0.5 percent of the industry’s Gross Value of Production (GVP), a figure calculated annually by ABARES.

While cattle numbers, transaction volumes, slaughter and live export numbers have remained relatively stable over the past two decades, the gross value of Australia’s cattle industry has increased dramatically.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean everybody’s making a lot more money,” Mr Evans told producers at Theodore.

“What it means is, at an industry level, because of the way our exports have grown, the value of our industry has substantially increased, which means our potential matching funding for research and development has substantially increased.

“What hasn’t increased during that period is our R&D allocation under the levy.”

That meant the industry needed to ask whether enough levy funding was being directed into producer-prioritised research to fully leverage the Commonwealth matching funding available.

Historically, he said, a growing proportion of the available matching funds had instead been accessed through privately-funded MLA Donor Company projects, which are typically aimed at commercialising technologies or products rather than addressing broader producer priorities identified through the levy-funded consultation process.

“The donor company is a positive thing,” he said.

“This year there’ll be about $100 million worth of research going through the MLA Donor Company.

“But one of the questions we’re asking producers is whether the balance is right.

“Do we need to increase the amount available for common-good producer research and perhaps reduce some of those commercialisation projects, or is the current balance appropriate?”

Mr Evans stressed the review was focused on maximising value from the existing levy before considering any changes.

“One of the first principles we started with is that before anyone talks about changes to the levy, we need to make sure we’re getting every bit of value we can from the existing $5,” he said

Cattle Transaction Levy review producer meeting schedule

Further meeting details and registration information will be made available as the review progresses. 

Meetings already held

• Monday 13 July – Kimberley Station, Moranbah
• Tuesday 14 July – Clarke Creek Community Hall, Clarke Creek
• Tuesday 14 July – Theodore Hotel, Theodore
• Wednesday 15 July – Bauhinia Community Hall, Bauhinia
• Wednesday 15 July – Buckland Rec Club, Buckland
• Monday 20 July 2 pm – Naracoorte, Bayview Sale Complex

• Tuesday 21 July 9 am – Mount Gambier, The Barn
• Tuesday 21 July 3 pm – Mortlake, Banquet Angus Sale Complex
• Wednesday 22 July 8:30 am- Ballarat, Selkirk Stadium – Register Here
• Wednesday 22 July  3:30 pm – Launceston, Hotel Grand Chancellor – Register Here

Meetings to come:

• Thursday 23 July 10:30 am – Sale, Maffco Brewery – Register Here
• Tuesday 28 July 9 am – Bunbury, Vat 2 – Register Here
• Tuesday 28 July 4 pm – Perth, Ingot Hotel – Register Here
• Thursday 30 July – Holbrook, TBC
• Thursday 30 July – Yass, TBC
• Monday 3 August 6 pm – Malanda, Malanda Hotel Ballroom – Register Here
• Tuesday 4 August 10 am – Conjuboy, Oasis Road House – Register Here
• Tuesday 4 August 6 pm – Charters Towers, Charters Towers RSL – Register Here
• Friday 7 August 9:30 am – Brisbane, Rydges Hotel – Register Here
• Monday 10 August – Moree, Weebollabolla Sale Complex
• Tuesday 11 August – Glen Innes, Glen Innes RSL
• Tuesday 11 August – Walcha, Walcha Bowling Club
• Wednesday 12 August – Tamworth, 3R Angus
• Thursday 13 August – Dubbo, Polldale Sale Complex
• Thursday 13 August – Orange, TBC
• Monday 17 August 11 am – Cloncurry, Concurry Precinct
• Monday 17 August 5 pm – Longreach,  Birdcage Hotel
• Tuesday 18 August 12 noon – Augathella, Bowls Club
• Tuesday 18 August – Roma, The Club Hotel
• Monday 24 August – Alice Springs, Arid Zone Research station
• Tuesday 25 August – Tennant Creek, Barkly Business Hub
• Thursday 27 August – Katherine, Reaserch Station
• Friday 28 August – Darwin, John England Building

For more meeting details and registration contact info@cattleaustralia.com.au