Food for thought for livestock producers

That was the question addressed by speakers at The University of Western Australia (UWA) Institute of Agriculture and School of Agriculture and Environment's Food for Thought seminar series last week.

The event was open to the public and featured Curtin University associate professor of supply chain management and logistics Dr Liz Jackson, UWA Institute of Agriculture associate professor Dominique Blache and professor Shane Maloney and The Livestock Collective project co-ordinator Marion Lewis, talking about the live export trade, livestock welfare, thermal physiology and novel methods of animal monitoring.

UWA lecturer Dr Kelsey Pool said the seminar series was stimulated from events that unfolded in January, with the livestock vessel MV Bahijah.

Headed from Australia to the Middle East, the vessel was ordered to turn back due to rising tensions in the Red Sea.

This meant the thousands of cattle and sheep onboard spent a few extra weeks at sea, off the coast of Fremantle.

Despite daily veterinarian reports indicating there were no significant animal health or welfare concerns, the situation sparked national debate.

"What this highlighted was the massive gap of knowledge and public transparency around Australia's production systems," Dr Pool said.

"As a start to addressing the transparency and knowledge gap, I have organised this Food For Thought seminar series with a number of speakers, who know quite a bit about live export, animal welfare and potentially where we are headed in the future of this field.

"The seminar series is intended to present an objective view into topical issues in agriculture and to consider the perspectives of producers, consumers and general society.

"It was organised by myself and UWA lecturer Dr Gustavo Alckmin."

To kick off the seminar, Dr Jackson discussed the $82 million live sheep export industry and highlighted how crucial the trade is to WA and the markets it serves.

She also spoke about the Federal Labor government's proposed phase-out of live sheep exports by sea and the consequences it has already had on the supply chain.

"The live export industry has played an integral role in taking extra sheep at a time of year when feed is diminishing and producers are waiting for winter rain," Dr Jackson said.

"It also helps by creating more competition in the market and with prices, which is better for farmers."

Dr Jackson said the lack of details that had been released since the Independent Panel submitted its report to the Federal government had hit industry hard.

She said supply chains were much more complex than moving or value-adding products from one sector to another.

It was about forecasting, planning and resource allocation for what customers want in order to get the right product, to the right place, in the right quantity, at the right time.

"There is an enormous amount of planning that goes into this," Dr Jackson said.

"And in the absence of that ability to plan, in the six months where we have had no information, we have faced great uncertainty.

"The absence of information about how we can manage with live export have left farmers asking - what do I do about joining my sheep next year or in the years that follow?

"The producers and millers (ask) - what do I plant and manufacture?

"And how much or many?

"If we need an alternative market, where are these sheep going to go?"

Dr Jackson said developing more processing capacity in WA was extremely risky because it was not known whether the industry was going to grow or not.

She said no one wanted to take that risk and said investment decisions needed to be made for the Fremantle Port and its future.

"There are also live export vessels - are there going to be more sheep and cattle?" Dr Jackson asked.

"Or is the industry going to shut down?

"What do we do in terms of maintenance and upgrades to these vessels - and what do we do in terms of business growth?

"Without certainty and knowing what is going to happen it is very difficult to make plans."

In terms of market, procurement and substitute markets, Dr Jackson said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wanted more sheep from Australia.

However, they did not know whether the country's live export trade would be operating long enough to sustain the relationships and food security needed.

Separately, she said there was a requirement for exporters to meet the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) regulatory conditions when buying Australian sheep and cattle.

ESCAS was introduced in August 2011 and rolled out across all markets by the end of 2012.

It places the responsibility on exporters to ensure the welfare of exported feeder and slaughter livestock along the entire post discharge supply chain in overseas markets through to the point of slaughter.

Dr Jackson said ESCAS required investment and training, which increased animal welfare outcomes through knowledge, awareness and improvement.

With uncertainty hanging heavy over the trade's future, she said questions would be asked by exporters, as to whether it was an investment that should be made or not.

"The ESCAS system has fundamentally changed the way animals are handled across the world - they are our rules," Dr Jackson said.

"A lot of our customers initially resented having Australia's values imposed on them, but those who have changed have seen improvements in meat hygiene and the quality of meat that is processed in their abattoirs.

"So we have not only exported our product, but our knowledge as well."

Dr Jackson said one thing people who were for and against live export could agree on was the high level of uncertainty.

With the trade currently being in limbo, she said the supply chain was suffering terribly.

Associate professor Blache discussed the evolution of an animal welfare framework including the five freedoms and three main conceptual frameworks to assess animal welfare.

Professor Maloney spoke about thermal discomfort in livestock, how it is assessed on live export vessels and the northern hemisphere moratorium on live sheep exports by sea, and Ms Lewis shared The Livestock Collective's vision for everyone to have a connection and shared understanding of agriculture and how that had been achieved, particularly through social media.