THE Federal government's live sheep export ban could hit a lot closer to home than some east coast producers may think.
No mercy has been shown to the $82 million trade, of which WA contributed more than 90 per cent of live sheep from Australia last year.
As such, WA sheep producers will suffer the most, however it could also weigh heavily on the wider agricultural sector and regional/rural communities across the country.
The reality is, the impact does not stop at the farmgate, WA-SA border or live export industry.
Livestock grazier Gus Whyte manages Wyndham and Willow Point Station, north of Wentworth New South Wales - more than 1500 kilometres from WA.
He runs a 6500-head Merino flock, across 31,500 hectares and has long been an advocate for people living out bush.
Offering an Eastern States' perspective, the grazier said it must be "pretty bloody tough" farming in WA.
And most would agree, with the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act and live sheep export ban by sea creating great angst.
Mr Whyte said ending an entire trade was discriminatory, harmful and would intensify the rural-urban divide, which many people think no longer exists.
He labelled the phase-out a "black out", and said the government should "hang its head in shame" in the way the situation has been dealt with.
"People might think it's only live export in WA, but there are so many levels to this," Mr Whyte said.
"There are going to be some incredibly poor and negative outcomes and nobody left to manage them.
"Instead it will be a case of, well pick yourself up, you've done it before."
Similarly to WA, Eastern States' abattoirs have grappled with a major processing backlog caused by severe labour shortages, an oversupply of old and new season lambs and slowdown in export forward contracts.
Mr Whyte said without market alternatives, the problem would be exacerbated.
He said it was a $30-40 "bus ticket" for sheep to be trucked over east.
"I'd support the WA Government if they were dedicated to building their processing capacity," Mr Whyte said.
"However, this is something that has not been discussed at length.
"It's not very simple to get into the abattoir business, it's not like there's a line-up of people wanting to do it."
He said if WA had minimal processing capacity and there were still some old lambs to offload, "you'd be selling the best of them over there for under $10".
Mr Whyte asked how that was economical for anyone.
He said the phase-out could jeopordise other commodities.
Mr White said good trading partners did not make "hasty single dimension decisions".
"Look at the disastrous snap ban to live cattle exports in 2011," he said.
"That had market ramifications right around the country across all meat sectors.
"If the Federal government continues down this path there may well be other livestock exporters saying that Australia doesn't care about its trading regions.
"And they may well search for trading partners that were actual partners."
Could the phase-out of live export see WA producers reduce their flock size and increase grain production?
A change in enterprise mix is an option some people have already considered.
However, this is not a viable solution for everyone, particularly those who farm on "good sheep country" that is "totally unsuited for cropping".
Without diversity, Mr Whyte said extra pressure would be placed on producers and the land, particularly in times of unfavourable grain prices, supply and weather events including drought and frost.
He said the value of livestock should not be underestimated, with many farmers integrating animals into their cropping business to graze out weeds and turn stubble into mulch and fertiliser.
"It is in those seasons that livestock help to pay the bills and removing that diversity will have a long-term and damaging impact."
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt's "election promise" and animal welfare have been at the forefront of the live sheep export debate.
Mr Watt said he would honour Labor's commitment to phase-out the trade and has shown no sign of backing down.
Mr Whyte said the promise would be upheld as it would only be seen to affect a small section of voters.
He said it was "extremely hurtful" to communities when decisions are made, that they have no control over, by people who "don't give two hoots".
"You can't keep bashing farmers and expect them to keep producing cheap food and subsidising the community on so many levels that we do at the moment," Mr Whyte said.
"If we worked at a steel mill and it was being closed down, impacting thousands of families like the live export phase-out would, the government would make sure everyone was looked after and nobody missed out.
"They'd made sure everyone had jobs to go into and that it would not have a detrimental impact on the community.
"I don't hear them saying, 'we're going to end live sheep exports, no communities are going to be worse off, farmers are going to be in a better position than what they are in now and it is going to be better for our entire economy'.
"I haven't heard anything said around this and it really riles me up."
Mr Whyte asked what was next.
"There's no limit to where some of these decisions could be made," he said.
