AUSTRALIAN goat industry leader John Falkenhagen wants to hear from producers aiming to vote against a proposed increase in levy producers pay to fund marketing and development.
The Goat Industry Council of Australia president and fellow councillors wants to see a clear decision in favour of the proposal to more than double the current 37.7 cent per head levy to 90 cents.
The levy proposal put to producers includes a tripling of the levy marketing component from 10.5 cents to 31.5 cents and from 16.7 cents to 27 cents for research and development, plus a doubling of the biosecurity activity component from 4.5 cents to 9 cents and more than tripling the National Residue Survey allocation from 6 cents to 22.5 cents.
GICA will need to get the approval of more than half the voting producers for any levy proposal to proceed to a formal recommendation for government approval. It has conducted a series of face-to-face meetings across the country to inform producers before the vote on 24 November, coinciding with the Meat & Livestock Australia annual general meeting.
Mr Falkenhagen told Sheep Central that if any goat producers are wanting to vote against the levy increase he wants them to be informed “and I challenge them to pick up the phone and ring me.”
“If they want to vote ‘no’ about investing in the future of their industry, come and tell me why the council is wrong.
“It’s vital; I cannot oversell how absolutely important for the industry it is that this change goes through.”
Mr Falkenhagen said if producers vote in favour of the levy increase on 24 November it won’t come into effect until mid-2028.
“It won’t affect the budget until the middle of 2029; we can’t afford to delay.”
He said if the proposal was not approved the National Residue Survey would be drastically affected which impacts market access.
“Everybody asks for more marketing, well we can’t do more marketing if we haven’t got a budget for it.”
Mr Falkenhagen said the industry and MLA had launched its first domestic retail marketing campaign with Drakes Supermarket. He said growing domestic and overseas markets is important, “but you can’t do those campaigns if you don’t have funds.”
“It’s been nearly 30 years since the current levy was introduced (in 1997) and it’s time that we invest in the maturity of the industry.”
The levy increase is fundamental to supporting the growth of the whole industry, including the rangeland and farmed goat sectors, Mr Falkenhagen said.
“Projects like Measured Goats at Condobolin and getting that value proposition to producers is what’s going to drive people into a farmed system.”
Mr Falkenhagen said he can be contacted at [email protected] or 0408349125.
I challenge John to ring me. I will be voting ‘no’ as I have clearly told John the levy should be a percentage and he didn’t listen.