AUSTRALIAN prime lamb producers could soon be on a level playing field to their New Zealand counterparts after the Sheepmeat Council of Australia (SCA) launched an eight-week consultation period on a proposed change to the definition of lamb.
At present, Australian lamb is defined as “meat derived from a female, castrated male, or entire male ovine animal that shows no evidence of eruption of permanent incisor teeth”.
Once the animal has lost a milk tooth, it is reclassified into the mutton or hogget category, resulting in a substantial price discount.
The proposed change of the lamb definition will allow the eruption of permanent incisors but without either incisor being in wear, giving producers more time to sell sheep under the lamb category at a premium price.
This would bring Australia’s lamb definition in line with its main competitor New Zealand, which defines lamb as “a sheep less than 12 months of age or which does not have any permanent incisors in wear”.
SCA chairman of marketing, market access and trade policy committee and Esperance farmer John Wallace, said the announcement was a step in the right direction.
“Sheepmeat Council has taken this long-running industry issue front on in a full and transparent manner by allowing all supply chain members from producer to consumer to have their say,” Mr Wallace said.
“Australia’s sheep meat and lamb industry has hit its strides over the past couple of decades, growing over double in size but a sticking point that has been a constant is a lamb definition that creates a price cliff.
“The proposed change in definition provides a signal to producers, by allowing the eruption of permanent incisors but without either incisor being in wear.
“This signal would help on-farm decision makers to sell lambs for many producers, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same for all producers, so we need to hear from everyone.”
Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) president Tony Seabrook welcomed the proposal, saying it made practical sense.
Mr Seabrook, who runs a sheep and cropping program at York, said he had experienced first-hand the costly effects of the current system.
“When you buy sheep in to fatten them they don’t come with a birth certificate so you’ve got no idea how old they are,” Mr Seabrook said.
“We bought in some Merinos and they looked as though they were six or seven months old but they were obviously very close to 12 because all of a sudden we found a couple that had lost a lamb’s tooth, so we had to sell them as hoggets and then bail out of the rest of them instantly.
“We couldn’t take the risk of hanging onto them so rather than have the opportunity to finish them or even shear them, we just had to get rid of them pronto.
“We also had a line of lambs go down in June, they bought $167 a head but we got six out – we mouthed them before we sent them down – and sent them down the next week and got $100.
“They were just as good as the ones we got $167 for but they were hoggets.
“In every way it (definition change) makes common sense, it in no way detracts from any of the quality aspects of a lamb and it brings a huge benefit to the producer.”
WAFarmers livestock section vice president Steve McGuire said the move was strongly supported by WAFarmers, which had been pushing for action on the issue for several years.
He said bringing standards in line with New Zealand was a no brainer.
“It allows farmers the opportunity to move on lambs that have teeth that are erupted,” Mr McGuire said.
“It gives guys that store lambs some surety and it allows them to buy with a bit more confidence, they know that even if they’re older lambs, that if their teeth do start erupting they have a small window they can still sell them as a lamb.
“If you’re buying store lambs obviously you’re budgeting to feed them ‘x’ amount, and then sell them at a certain price and if you lose some out of the system then that affects your bottom line.
“There’s been a perceived quality issue but that’s hard to reconcile when you’re only talking about a few days or weeks’ difference.”
Western Australian Meat Marketing Co-operative (WAMMCO) group chief executive officer Coll MacRury said lamb quality would not be impacted if the proposed changes were implemented.
“You’re only talking weeks so there’s not going to be any difference,” Mr MacRury said.
“Quality won’t be any worse, it could be better – they’re just a little bit more mature.”
Mr MacRury said the definition change would be of great benefit to both producers and processors.
“When things are tight in those winter months when you’re leading into the new season you’ll have the advantage of being able to process extra volumes,” Mr MacRury said.
“It gives you the ability to process lambs for a little bit longer maybe which would suit the market when the procurement market is sometimes short of lambs at that time of the year.
“It will help fill further orders that we weren’t able to fill, it will just make it a little bit more flexible.”
SCA director Mick Craig said it was important for all of the industry to be on the “same page” before SCA decided its policy position.
Mr Craig said lamb definition was one component the SCA was considering as part of a broader review of the sheepmeat language.
“Having the right language across all production systems through to the trade and consumer environment is crucial to ensuring producers get paid for the attributes that consumers value most,” Mr Craig said.
“Industry’s got the potential to improve profitability over the next couple of decades with ongoing investment into objective carcase measurement and securing greater access to premium global markets.”
Public consultation on the proposal closes on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 and SCA will release the final report and its policy position on the matter in March, 2018.
