A PROMINENT cattle breeder and Wagga businessman has made a controversial plea to the farming community to boycott stock sales across the country during January in protest of perceived poor pricing.
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Leigh Campbell believes "middlemen" are pocketing huge amounts of money from meat sold overseas.
"Beef and mutton are selling for record prices overseas with record amounts being shipped from Australia," Mr Campbell said.
"The prices we are receiving does not reflect record prices or anywhere near it therefore the middleman, mainly foreign companies are pocketing the difference.”
NSW Farmers Association Wagga district chair Alan Brown who is also a Wagga City councillor, agreed livestock producers were not getting an adequate price, but did not think a boycott was the answer.
“It’s certainly an issue that grates with me, because compared to our compatriots in the United States and Great Britain we are getting very poor prices,” Councillor Brown said.
“We are being ripped off.
“(Having a boycott) is impractical, we just have to do the best we can.”
Calling for a boycott, Mr Campbell used the example of chopped cattle, popular in the American hamburger trade.
“They were making $2 kilogram, we all sent in lots, suddenly they are $140 kilogram,” he said.
“The price didn’t go down overseas so therefore the middleman is pocketing about an extra $240 per head for a 400 kilogram cow which should be ours.”
Mr Campbell said this would seriously deplete supply lines, giving the farming community power to regulate the market.
“Last year Wagga sold livestock worth $294 million, if we can achieve a 25 per cent increase in prices it equates to an additional $97.6 million in the community, less the value of any stock sold by foreign owned or corporate farms which would almost certainly leave the district.”
RH Blake and Company livestock agent and auctioneer Mark Logan did not support the call.
“No agent in the country would support that,” he said.
“We rely on selling for our livelihood.”
Mr Logan said a lack of rain had kept prices low, but the Australian dollar and good export market meant supply prices should be good when rain breaks.
“A big rain will fix it, there will be a big price correction.”
Mr Campbell is gauging community interest in a meeting at the Oura Hall.
“If we are not prepared to do something and soon, we will all be working for corporations or foreign-owned farms that used to be Australian,” he said.
If you are interested, please contact him on 6922 1144 or 6922 1216.
