Sustainability from paddock to plate
I am pleased to present MLA’s Annual Report 2023–24.
Since my return to Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) in May 2024 as Managing Director, I’ve prioritised taking the time to meet with a wide range of industry stakeholders to hear how they are viewing MLA’s performance against the MLA Strategic Plan, the MLA Annual Investment Plan as well as understand their priorities for our industry moving forward. I’ve gained valuable insight into how MLA’s investments have investigated, delivered and communicated a range of tools, training and research-backed marketing, adoption and on-farm strategies to support the red meat industry over the 2023–24 financial year.
I was delighted to read in the most recent annual MLA Producer Adoption Outcomes Report that our adoption programs have delivered an annual net benefit of $74.3 million to those producers engaged in MLA adoption programs during FY24.
Our investment into enhancing the accessibility of the electronic National Vendor Declaration (eNVD) through Integrity Systems Company (ISC), means producers have a faster, more accurate system which can be used offline for their livestock consignments. Adoption of this technology has been growing, with downloads of the eNVD mobile app more than doubling from 17,000 in 2022–23 to 40,000 in 2023–24. Almost a third of all consignments now use an eNVD (29%), accounting for around a quarter of all livestock movements in Australia. Speaking with many of you at industry events as well as during consultation with a range of peak industry bodies – it’s clear to me that our industry has a shared enthusiasm to put our collective weight behind identifying and enacting solutions that deliver material benefit to our levy payers and support the long-term sustainability of the red meat supply chain.
MLA will continue to support our red meat industry to be profitable, productive and sustainable and have a focus on producers. There have been a number of challenges for the industry throughout 2023–24 with tough seasonal conditions, particularly in southern and Western Australia, and tight trading conditions which were below cost of production for a significant part of the year. Sheep producers in Western Australia who rely on the live export of sheep by sea trade to run their businesses have been hit the hardest and we are working in collaboration with the peak industry bodies and other industry partners to develop marketing and R&D programs to support WA producers through this difficult time.
Despite these significant obstacles, there is much to remain positive about for Australia’s beef cattle, sheep and goat sectors, with the demand outlook across all species looking strong and significant market opportunities available both at home and overseas.
Australia has Free Trade Agreements with many of our global trading partners, with over 85% of our exports now covered by preferential trade agreements. The recent lifting of suspensions of several major beef processors to China and the ongoing attention to seeking further trade reform benefits via ongoing negotiations with the European Union, India and the United Arab Emirates, are evidence of improving market access conditions.
I encourage you to dive into the detailed Report to Stakeholders, which details the key activities and outcomes undertaken through each of MLA’s 16 programs of work during the previous financial year.
Some standout highlights which I’m happy to share include:- Meat Standards Australia (MSA) delivered $326 million in estimated additional farm gate returns to participating producers during 2023–24.
- Australian goatmeat production in 2023 has achieved the highest production volume ever recorded in Australia at 36,903 tonnes.
- Australia exported a record $17 billion worth of red meat in 2023.
- The Summer Lamb campaign has delivered record audience reach, with 24.8 million views achieved, more than twice the number of views of any other lamb campaign to date.
- An Australian Good Meat social media campaign with popular influencers Jaxon and Lachlan Fairbairn has gained 9.4 million views of its positive messages about red meat producers caring for their livestock and the environment to produce healthy beef and lamb.
- The Australian red meat industry has reported a 78% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions against the 2005 figures.
Strategic Plan
Looking forward, MLA is developing our next five-year Strategic Plan and consulting with industry to ensure it sets out a clear and robust course for our goals for research, development and marketing to 2030. It will be a plan that will drive investment to address the key industry priorities and will focus on delivering value and impact for the benefit of the industry and in particular, our levy payers.
I look forward to working closely with producers, peak industry bodies, the supply chain, government, research partners, fellow RDCs, and other key stakeholders over the coming months to help propel our industry to ongoing and sustainable prosperity.
For a full overview of our Strategic Plan KPIs and to track MLA’s progress, please see page 74 (of the Annual Report PDF).