WHEN farmers pick up the phone or drop into the Farm Weekly office to express anger or highlight concerns about an issue that is affecting them – it’s time to take them seriously.
Last week livestock producers started doing just that over the Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) Livestock Production Assurance Program’s (LPA) new biosecurity and animal welfare requirements.
The new requirements started on October 1, but will not be considered in LPA audits until January 1, 2018, which gives producers time to comply.
However, red meat producers are kicking back against what they claim is another layer of bureaucracy and red tape, which is going to add compliance costs, as well as added paperwork, that they see as unnecessary and unwanted.
Stud Merino Breeders’ Association of WA (SMBA) immediate past president Steven Bolt said last Friday’s meeting saw a good debate among its members concerning the new LPA accreditation requirements.
“There was a unanimous vote by our committee to oppose the introduction of the new LPA biosecurity and animal welfare requirements,” Mr Bolt said.
“We will be working with other State Merino breeder associations around the country and other organisations across the State which also hold the same position.
“We strongly oppose it because there has been no consultation with industry.
“This seems like a licence to sell livestock.
“They have put us in a position where growers have no other option but to comply because we are unable to achieve NVDs (National Vendor Declaration) without being accredited.
“This certainly hasn’t been driven by industry and we are not satisfied that there is a benefit for producers.”
Mr Bolt said Sheep Meat Council of Australia president Jeff Murray attended the meeting to explain the reason why they introduced and supported the LPA scheme and to answer questions about it.
“They were responsible for supporting and bringing in the LPA accreditation,” Mr Bolt said.
“Mr Murray said they had been happy with the consultation process before its introduction but many of our members – who are fairly active in the industry – heard nothing about it until they received mail in their letterboxes.
“We are not sure how they could be happy with the consultation when this has been the case.
“Mr Murray said they supported the scheme so producers could access European Union markets.
“Although that level of regulation was not a requirement at present he thought going forward we could access the premium market there.”
Mr Bolt was concerned when committee members were being contacted by farmers saying if this was introduced they would be leaving the industry.
“As an industry we have never seen it better but when you get comments like this, it is really worrying,” Mr Bolt asked.
“What are the benefits for growers?
“It doesn’t change the status of the sheep we are selling.
“It’s just a level of red tape and paperwork and cost across the whole industry.”
Mr Bolt said the WA sheep industry didn’t want this level of regulation imposed on it.
“As a united industry we have the opportunity now to voice our dissatisfaction at the lack of consultation, and the introduction of this scheme that the WA sheep industry didn’t ask for,” Mr Bolt said.
“If we accept this, there’s no mechanism for growers to have control over the potential increasing cost of accreditation and regulation.
“It’s a clear case of a peak industry body not representing growers best interests.”
WAFarmers sheep council spokesman Malcolm Edward said he had been receiving calls from a lot of angry farmers about the issue and something had to be done about it.
One upset farmer who called Farm Weekly was Wagin sheep producer Jim West, who has been concerned since he first heard about the changes to the LPA program.
“Everyone I talk to is not happy about it,” Mr West said.
“The main concern is that they have not been upfront about the whole thing.
“They are not being honest and not asking growers what they think.
“They haven’t consulted with growers as far as I know.”
Mr West, who runs 5000 Merino sheep said the LPA program would add another $66 fee every three years.
“A comment from a couple of people I know was that they would just stop farming sheep and move to 100 per cent cropping systems,” Mr West said.
“Which is not what they want to do.”
Mr West said he had spent time in the United Kingdom and the United States of America and compared to those countries, Australia was far more over regulated.
“We are bombarded with bureaucracy,” Mr West said
“Australia outdoes the UK and America in that regard.
“The Americans would have a revolution over the amount of bureaucracy we live with.”
Mr West said the new requirements started on October 1 but he didn’t get his letter until October 4.
“Some people still haven’t received theirs,” he said.
Mr West said he spent the equivalent of two full days researching all the information on the LPA requirements.
“The only reason I have time to look into this is because my son manages the farm now.”
Mr West said WAFarmers, the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA (PGA) and the SMBA were all in agreeance that the new requirements needed to be canned.
“It’s unusual for everyone to agree,” Mr West said.
“It gives me confidence that something will be sorted out and that we can continue a good workable relationship.”
PGA vice president Digby Stretch said the association was receiving calls from farmers concerned about biosecurity issues and the LPA accreditation needed to be “market driven and not bureaucracy driven”.
“If there’s a market specifically asking for it then we should look at it,” Mr Stretch said.
He said the PGA would be holding a meeting next week to discuss the issue further, as well as changes to the State biosecurity Act.
At the moment the new LPA biosecurity and animal welfare requirements for producers are not requirements expected by any red meat trading nation.
Sheep Meat Council of Australia president Jeff Murray said Friday’s SMBA meeting was “productive” even though “some were not happy about LPA’s introduction”.
“Part of the process is to ensure that our meat is healthy for consumers, especially as we go forward into free-trade agreements,” Mr Murray said.
“They lift the bar higher and higher.
“The EU is our highest premium market and we can’t afford to lose it when 98 per cent of our mutton is exported.”
Mr Murray said the LPA accreditation was not an onerous thing and explained and documented what producers did.
“Some might see it as an extra burden but people are demanding clean green food,” Mr Murray said.
“Everything we have done is just done under a different format.
“Our auditing hasn’t been as strong in the past and we are just trying to make sure it is all good.”
Mr Murray admitted that communication between the MLA and producers hadn’t been good enough, although there had been workshops conducted around the State for producers to attend.
“The SMBA can even run their own workshop on the requirements if they felt it necessary,” Mr Murray said.
Association of Australian Stud Merino Breeders’ president Georgina Wallace, Tasmania, said the organisation hadn’t had a chance to meet about the issue yet because it became an issue after its last meeting in September.
“I understand it is an issue in WA,” Ms Wallace said.
“It’s another piece of paper when the whole sheep industry is over regulated as it is.”
Ms Wallace said she would be in touch with State associations to assess where they stood on the issue.