Aboriginal men and women from across the State came together at the Department of Agriculture and Food’s Frank Wise Institute in Kununurra last week for a four-day workshop focussing on improving the business management of their enterprises.
The Indigenous Cattleman’s workshop, organised and co-funded by the Department of Agriculture and Food’s Aboriginal Business Development (ABD) group in partnership with the Indigenous Land Corporation’s National Indigenous Pastoral Enterprise group, targeted Aboriginal producers and beef industry supply chain stakeholders in WA.
This was the first workshop held in WA to deliver the Business Management Advisory Project (BMAP), an initiative of the Northern Territory Indigenous Pastoral Program.
Department ABD project manager Mark Chmielewski said the 12 Aboriginal beef producers from WA, representing six pastoral businesses, were predominately from the Kimberley region and the rangelands. There was also representation from an Aboriginal beef backgrounding business based in Dandaragan.
“The workshop provided a great opportunity to bring together a diverse group of Aboriginal men and women who were able to share their experiences in running beef enterprises.
“Collectively, those who attended manage nearly 1.5 million hectares of land and 75,000 cattle.”
Delivered by David McLean from Resource Consulting Services, topics covered included the importance of financial planning and management, development of a business plan, animal nutrition and sustainable land management.
Mr Chmielewski said by participating in the workshop, the pastoralists were able to learn more about managing risk and how to increase their business value and sustainability of their land.
There was also a field trip to Carlton Hill Station to assess pasture utilisation and re-inforce learning from the course.
Nora Gunyan from Mowla Bluff Station, Derby said she had learnt a lot about the importance of rotating cattle through paddocks from the workshop.
“I now understand the importance of rotating cattle through paddocks by using trap gates to allow pasture to have a rest and regrow. Rotating the cattle closer to the holding paddock and yards also lowers stress on the animals and reduces muster costs such as helicopter hire,” she said.
Lexie Mourambine from Yallalie Downs, Moora said day one was full on and amazing.
“The prospects for the farm business and its management will be very positive,” she said.
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