THE live export and processing sectors are extremely concerned about their ability to secure sheep supplies going forward, with the news that well over 100,000 head of WA sheep had gone east during September.
WA Live Exporters’ Association (WALEA) chair John Edwards said the numbers of ewes that were being sold to domestic abattoirs in WA and the large numbers going east posed a threat to the industry’s ability to gather numbers going forward.
“It’s been a tough year this year, given the season last year and the exodus of numbers as we saw more people going into cropping,” Mr Edwards said.
“A whole culmination of what has happened in previous years, plus the season to date, we’re now seeing an even further reduction of the breeding flock in WA and that is a real concern for the live export industry.”
Mr Edwards said potentially, the situation could see the live export industry become less WA-centric with more of a focus on the Eastern States where the larger sheep numbers would be.
He said WA had always had the lion’s share of the market, with 72-73 per cent of the trade capacity going to the Middle East because the State had growers turning off large sheep numbers, as well as the proximity of Fremantle port to Middle Eastern ports.
“But I think you’ll see more emphasis on vessels having to part-load in the the east,” Mr Edwards said.
“Going forward I think exporters will have to take into account positioning vessels to the east in order to get as full as loads as possible.”
Mr Edwards said the industry had a good message to sell and worked hard to get that message across, because without live export, the sheep industry in WA would be a lot different.
He said they had done their best to encourage farmers to keep producing sheep, but said he understood that a lot of producers did not have any pasture or grain to feed livestock at the moment, and those who did found it difficult to secure numbers amidst the current demand.
“Nobody begrudges what producers are doing now,” Mr Edwards said.
“It’s a worry for the industry going forward, particularly those producers who have exited the sheep industry with no intention of going back in.
“It’s very disappointing to see where the industry had got to in the last few years particularly price-wise and now to have last year’s and this year’s influence further depressing sheep numbers in this State.
“We’ve got some very encouraging signals out there with sheep and lamb prices in general, and I’d like to think that farmers would be able to rationalise those indicators going forward in their development plans in both their cropping and sheep enterprises.”
Hillside Meats director Peter Trefort said while there were plenty of lambs around at the moment, he was worried as to what would happen around Christmas and beyond.
Mr Trefort said next year, the sheep industry would find itself in a situation that it had never been in before.
He said he could understand why producers were deciding to sell their sheep to Eastern States’ buyers and did not blame them.
“There’s no feed out here for them and the farmer has to do something,” Mr Trefort said.
“There’s no drama from that perspective, it will just make it very difficult next year.
“Normally we can get people to take lambs and feed them and background them but not this year, the whole Wheatbelt is in a dire situation.
“It’s going to make it very awkward.”
