Investment attraction for industry growth
The Western Australian Government welcomes and facilitates agreements and partnerships between local and in-country agribusiness.
The state government aims to actively promote and profile the WA beef industry in order to attract transformational and innovative investment.
This includes development of new business models that attract bilateral investment to support integrated supply chains from production through to processing and marketing and distribution to end markets.
Investment in the WA beef industry provides investors with a range of options and levels of involvement – from cattle production to integrated supply chains for both live cattle and beef products including the development of innovative beef products.
WA has a strong track record in live cattle exports which includes various breeds and cattle types from purebred Angus produced in southern WA to robust Brahman and their crosses from the northern rangelands.
Cattle exported live from WA are produced to meet strict animal welfare requirements, customer specifications and animal health protocols.
An integrated supply chain involving cattle bred in the rangelands or pastoral areas, linked to backgrounding and finishing operations in the southern grain growing regions for final processing in an abattoir offers a proven value chain.
This value chain approach ensures continuity of supply and specified product quality for end consumers.
Beef production can be based on lower cost breeding stations in the pastoral areas where herds in excess of 5000 are available.
Value can be added through backgrounding and high quality feedlots (to optimise Meat Standards Australia high quality grades) and processed to buyers' specification in modern, multi-market accredited abattoirs.
Investors in an integrated supply chain concept can receive cattle from the wider WA beef sector thus multiplying the potential production through the system.
Southern agricultural feedlot options also exist for investors.
The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia can assist potential investors with links to the WA commercial sector and provide information that could be used to inform their investment decisions.
All foreign investors and their advisers need to be familiar with the Australian Government Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) policies.
All foreign government investors must obtain foreign investment approval before acquiring any interest in rural land, regardless of the value. This is consistent with the Federal Australian Government’s longstanding practice.
From 1 March 2015, privately-owned foreign investors must get prior approval for a proposed acquisition of an interest in rural land where the cumulative value of rural land that the foreign person (and any associates) already holds exceeds, or immediately following the proposed acquisition is likely to exceed, $15 million (FIRB, 2015).
Western Australia has a strong agricultural research and development base, including networks linking universities, government and specialist research centres.