MLA CEO Mick Crowley in Senate Estimates – will continue support for live sheep trade.

MEAT & Livestock Australia leaders defended the Summer Lamb ad and outlined the body’s continued support for live sheep exports by sea in a short Senate Estimates hearing yesterday.

At the Senate Estimates hearing of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport new MLA chairman John Lloyd said the challenges for the industry had included flooding in north Queensland and drought persisted in South Australia and western Victoria, and bushfires had wreaked havoc.

However, 2024 was a record year for red meat exports, with 2.24 million tonnes going to 104 countries, representing the highest volume ever, he said.

“Beef exports reached 1.34 million tonnes, lamb exports 359,000 (tonnes), mutton exports 255,000 (tonnes), and very pleasingly for a small industry, goat meat exports reached 51,000 tonnes, which was also a record.

“We’ve also had another amazing response to the Summer Lamb ad, encouraging people to get out of the comments section and into the cutlets, with total online views of the ad being some 20 million times.”

MLA chairman John Lloyd at Senate Estimates yesterday.

Why no longer the Australia Day lamb campaign?

Senator Bridget McKenzie queried why the Summer Lamb campaign was no longer focused on Australia Day.

Referring to the Woolworths decision in 2023 decision to scale back Australia Day-related merchandise, subsequently reversed, Senator McKenzie said of the MLA decision: “I’m just wondering, that’s so Woolworths 2023, no longer Australia Day?

MLA chief executive officer Mick Crowley said the campaign is now a ‘Summer Lamb’ campaign across the season, but it is always timed around Australia Day.

Senator McKenzie said the campaign has been iconic with its Australia Day connection.

However, Mr Crowley said MLA is releasing the campaign earlier than ever this year.

“It came out much earlier than Australia Day and as a result we’ve been able to get more traction as a result of having a longer campaign.”

Mr Crowley said MLA did not specifically talk to its levy payers about Australia Day and celebrating it and the role of lamb and red meat, before changing the campaign.

“I don’t think you should be ashamed of Australia Day and your industry’s role in helping Australians celebrate it,” Senator McKenzie said, but there were not comments from the MLA leaders.

MLA to continue live sheep trade support

Mr Crowley said he was aware of the last Voconiq community confidence survey showed there was strong support for the live export industry.

He said MLA’s role is very clear.

MLA was continuing to invest in marketing and market access work in Australia’s key international markets and will continue to do so, including for live sheep exports, he said.

“The budget remains the same as it was for previous years going forward.”

Mr Crowley said the forecast around the immediate future of live sheep exports by seas is based around sentiment.

“We don’t have a forecast around numbers, but the (MLA/AWI) intentions survey from October showed that whilst there was a significant improvement in confidence of sheep producers and the results increased a lot around their sentiment.

“But there is an intention, particularly in Western Australia and South Australia, to reduce their flock numbers and there is a range of factors around that.”

“But certainly the market in Western Australia for mutton is depressed at the moment and seasonal conditions particularly in South Australia and the western districts of Victoria are causing quite a lot of concern around the sheep industry at the moment.”

Mr Crowley admitted the policy settings of the government have had an impact, but not positive “if you relied on the sheep export market in Western Australia.”

“But we’re supporting the trade while ever it continues,” he said.

Bovaer concerns allayed

Senator Matt Canavan said there had been concerns about the cattle supplement Bovaer to reduce methane emissions and he asked how consumers knew it was being used appropriately.

Mr Crowley said the regulatory authorities have approved the additive because appropriate doses shouldn’t transfer through to meat or milk.

Mr Crowley said Bovaer is very similar to other products that are used in feeding livestock.

“There are very clear handling directions and labels that are followed on the product.

“It less than a teaspoon per 20 kilograms of feed and it’s fully metabolized in the rumen so it can’t pass onto the meat or milk.

“There has been no detectable residues in meat in any of the studies done.

“We’ve got the results from studies we have done and there have been no residues found.”

He said one study did find a productivity gain but that has not been able to be repeated and no production gain benefit claims have been made.