A Wagga cattle farmer who worked through the 2011 ban on live exports is calling for all live exports to be suspended until more thorough regulations are introduced.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Cattle farmer Mick Salmon said he suffered no economic losses during the 2011 ban.
“Not one cattle producer I know experienced any negative impacts – any downturn in the industry was from drought, not from the ban,” Mr Salmon said.
“Australian farmers are the best in the world at surviving and selling the product at the cost of production, so if the live export trade was gone, Australian farmers would not collapse overnight.”
Mr Salmon said most farmers were not in favour of live exports themselves, adding that it is almost impossible for a farmer to know where their livestock would end up when they sell them.
“When you’re selling, it’s a bit hit and miss over where your cattle will end up – you’ve got no say,” he said.
Our farmers don’t go to the trouble of producing one of the best products in the world to have it treated like that.
- Mick Salmon
“You might think they’re going into the domestic market and ending up at Woolworths, but that’s not to say buyers aren’t on-selling them offshore.”
Mr Salmon said boosting local abattoirs was a way to ensure Australian livestock were treated with dignity while still maintaining a strong industry.
“Our farmers don’t go to the trouble of producing one of the best products in the world to have it treated like that,” he said.
“Why can’t we value add to our product by banning live exports, processing sheep and cattle here in Australia, and shipping them off frozen? It would also be a great way of creating some employment here.”
Sheep Producers Australia president Allan Piggott called on the government and exporters to work together to improve the accountability of the export industry.
“Producers need to have confidence that the systems in place to ensure this kind of mistreatment does not happen are effective and are monitored and enforced,” Mr Piggott said.
“We need to know that breaches will be investigated and, where failures have been found to occur, penalties are enforced.”