Some simple ways to improve the meat industry

Alan Barbers views on the meat industry are always worth reading and he provides simple solutions to move our often troubled meat industry forward.

But these views for farmers seem very much like the Deloittes report, and mirror the processors requests early in the season.

But does not  a year long committment from farmers require a similar discipline  from processors to offer a similar deal to everyone, not as we have seen this season buying and paying '"whatever we have to" regardless of who have shown loyalty?

Could you live and committ to these simple solutions to help the meat industry move forward?

Much is said and written about the cost to the farmer and industry as a whole of overcapacity, while many commentators see fundamental changes to the selling, processing and procurement structure as the only way to solve the problem. There are many suggestions ranging from single desk selling to company mergers to consumer led breeding and marketing of ‘designer’ products.

My suggestions for better industry performance are quite simple. My advice to farmers is to:

» Choose the processor (or processors if you need more than one to handle your farm output) that you consider best meets your objectives and stick with the same one(s) for at least a season to give them a fair trial; keep them honest, but don’t keep shopping around.
» Examine your farm practice for ways to improve your performance, because it is a fact that there are sheep and beef farmers performing very profitably in the current environment; if you aren’t one of them, try to find out why not.
» Embrace the advantages of animal traceability for your cattle and be prepared to use it for sheep, because sooner or later the market will demand it across all species.
» Only use your stock agent for assistance where he can add value, not cost; his main role is to source and sell store stock.
 
Areas I believe processors should focus on are:

» Improving workplace practices and productivity levels.
» Maximising the price obtained in the market by ensuring the right specification, delivering on time to the required quality standard and negotiating the best price possible.
» Keeping plants to the optimum level of efficiency and accepting the need for rationalisation, if they are not efficient enough to procure sufficient livestock.
 
Finally the Government needs to create a more appropriate industrial relations environment, minimise the imposition of excessive costs on employers and keep pressure on trade access.

None of these suggestions is exactly earth shattering, but you may be surprised how much more effective they could make the sheep and beef industry, especially if wool prices could recover some of their former glory.