Since the release of the beef stocktake report in 2010 and the formation of the WA Beef Council, DAFWA’s approach to beef industry development has transitioned from a production focus, to a market driven supply chain approach.
In 2013 DAFWA, in collaboration with the WA Beef Council and Meat and Livestock Australia, developed the ‘Beef Industry Change Program’. The program aims to support and develop beef industry supply chains for new markets. The demographics and scope of the Western Australian rangelands beef industry is central to the program with a focus on capturing more value from the northern herd.
Assisting the Western Australian (WA) beef industry to respond to the growing demand for beef in China and South-East Asian countries is also a key focus for DAFWA. Potential supply chain opportunities include:
- Brahman commercial breeding heifer exports to Indonesia
- live exports to Association of South-East Asia Nation (ASEAN) countries, such as Vietnam
- live exports of feeder and slaughter cattle to China
- boxed beef exports to China
- off-shore processing of slaughter-ready live exports.
The program will support the supply chain initiatives by:
- identifying the capacity, capability and limitations of the WA beef industry to consistently supply the quality and quantity of product required by the market opportunity
- developing innovative solutions to overcome barriers to change and improved business models
- building relationships, communication and transparency between all sectors of the supply chain to increase confidence in the industry to achieve change
- developing market intelligence and consumer insight capability to improve decision-making.
The Department of Agriculture and Food is also delivering the Northern Beef Futures (NBF) project, funded by the State Government Royalties for Regions program.
Northern Beef Futures is an export supply chain focussed, market-driven project, focussed on enabling the WA beef industry to boost capabilities, build value and strengthen relationships within new and existing supply chains and diversify and align products to suit new and expanding markets identified by NBF.
For a brief overview of the NBF project please view our Northern Beef Futures video.
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