South East livestock producer Mark Wheal has taken aim at Meat & Livestock Australia's governance structure and questions whether producers are getting the best outcomes for their hundreds of millions of dollars of levies and tax payer funds.
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The organisation, which last week announced an independent performance review for 2020-23, says its understands the "anxiety and pressure many producers feel with current prices" but it believes it is delivering a strong return on investment.
This is particularly so in the growth of international markets where October was a record month for red meat exports at 177,655 tonnes. Lamb exports are also tipped to break records by the end of the year.
Mr Wheal, who runs 600 Angus-Simmental cows and 1200 sheep, along with cropping, at Thornlea near Beachport, says any Australian livestock producer should have a chance to stand for the MLA board, describing the voting system where candidates are selected by a panel based on a skills matrix as "archaic" and "undemocratic".
"We need a democratically elected voting system to get a wider representation for all Australian producers, at the moment we don't even have a chance to decide who sits on selection panel that chooses them," he said.
A MLA spokesperson says its statutory funding agreement as well as the funding agreement with the federal government requires MLA to maintain a skills based board of directors with the necessary skills and experience to effectively govern.
"Working within those requirements, MLA seeks directors with a variety of skills each year and this process is open to anyone who feels they have the skill sets sought in that year. Having said that, of the current board, five out of eight non-executive directors are also livestock producers," the spokesperson said.
The selection committee from which directors are endorsed has nine members of which one each represent the grassed cattle, lot feeder and sheepmeat peak councils.
Two non voting members are MLA directors and the remaining four members are producer representatives elected by members at the MLA annual general meeting for a period of three years.
Mr Wheal is also questioning whether processors - who contribute voluntary dollars - are benefiting more from MLA's efforts than producers who pay the greater share. There needs to be accountability that the use of the money best represents the actual needs of the producers, he said.
"As the Australian producer we have contributed a lot of money to marketing, increasing the value of Australian product overseas and growing demand with offices in Washington, London and Tokyo and wherever else but at the moment it is not being returned to the levy payer, the producer," he said.
"If you look at the price of boxed beef in the United States and compare it to our carcase price at the saleyards or abattoirs there is a massive difference and that is not even considering the fact we get nothing for our organs, skins and eye balls which the processor sells."
The MLA spokesperson says the organisation invests in international marketing to grow long term prosperity for Australian beef, lamb and goat producers and according to MLA's 2022-2023 annual report it met 14 of 16 key performance indicators for international marketing from its five year strategic plan.
MLA says industry peak councils are consulted in the development of the international marketing activities, and all programs are independently evaluated.
"The short-term relationship between marketing and livestock prices is not strong but, over the long-term, export demand has proven to be the number one driver of livestock prices," the spokesperson said.
In their response MLA also stressed that processors contribute to industry marketing initiatives via the Australian Meat Processors Corporation. In many cases, these contributions from the processors contribute directly to MLA-led programs, including international marketing.
Mr Wheal supports MLA engaging in research but says money needs to be spent on proactive projects not reactive, to take the industry forward such as the live sheep trade, tag technology, drought resilience and disease management.
" We are getting less for our sheep and cattle but still paying the same levies which make up a higher proportion of that animal so it is even more important MLA are accountable to producers," he said.
- To have your say in MLA's review go to info.ghd.com/mlareview. Submissions close on December 8.
