Parliamentary Inquiry - Senate Select Committee has the ability to reduce loss of life of our livestock, save our farmers and give Australian’s transparency into who is responsible in the supply chain

Anthony Scott

Founding Director - TJJC Advisory Group

Technology platforms for our livestock farmers already exist free of costs – who won’t support.

Let’s Outline the Problem

The Animals

Year after year the transportation of livestock going to be sold at markets claims thousands of deaths via road transport, whether it be motor vehicle collision, breaking hard or swerving whilst driving, hot conditions or overloading.

These animals are transported long distances to markets across our country all the time standing for days and in event they are not sold transported back to the farm often sustaining injuries and worse case death.

Once at market there is another onerous two to three-day process for the livestock:

• Sale yard drafting and sorting

• Auction

• Then 2nd transport move to processors or if not sold returning with the farmer to start the process again.

The Farmer

Livestock sale process for a farmer is problematical: -

• the cost and time to transport livestock to market is extensive that impacts the costs of the sale – taking money from farmers pockets.

• the cost of sale, flat fee regardless of if the livestock sell or nor then a commission per head if the sale proceeds.

• Animal loss of weight and delays through transportation and saleyard process reducing the weight of the livestock and thus the price to farmer, which also impacting the quality of the end product to the consumer.

• No reserve, the farmer is impacted by architected lowing of the market price.

Mr Albanese said in a statement. “We have been clear — if the price for meat and fruit and vegetables is going down at the farm gate then families should be seeing cheaper prices on supermarket shelves too,” Carrie LaFrenz Financial Review 4th January 2024.

The Saleyard

• No Data on livestock, only a visual assessment

• Livestock are double handled.

• Increased chance of bruising and injury.

• No reserve on livestock

• Collusion between buyers reducing pricing

• Increased BIO Security Risk.

Abattoirs – The Buyer/Processor

Abattoirs across Australia have adopted and leveraged AI Technology – that has significantly reduced labour usage, increased efficiencies, and processing power.   This technology can replicate the processing of a carcass in its entirety, scanning and processing a two-metre-long carcass in 15 seconds to customer specifications.

AI Technology Benefits to the Abattoirs:

• Significant reduction of processing costs

• Great output to market

• Improved workplace safety

• Less reliant on the supply of labour.

Surely this reduces and stabilises cost to the supermarkets, especially considering livestock prices have reduced.

The Supermarkets

Coles’ profit rose 4.8 per cent to $1.10 billion in the last financial year, while Woolworths’ profit rose 4.6 per cent to $1.62 billion……….. which was supported by an 18.3 per cent gain in food earnings. Carrie LaFrenz Financial Review 4th January 2024.

How can this be when:

• The price of livestock has reduced – lambs $7.60 down to $5.60 and beef $3 down to $1.80 in the past year

• Abattoirs are reducing costs through Automation.

Existing Solutions Available for the Industry

Two Australian companies Farmgate/Fivestock and Auctions Plus that offer an online livestock sales platform that allows farmers sell their livestock without leaving the farm.

For the Livestock

• Reducing the death rate

• Reducing chance on bruising and injury

• Less handling – reduced stress

• Decreased BIO security Risk

For the Farmer – more money in the farmers hand without impacting supermarket prices

• No platform/application cost to the farmer, no set up or hosting costs – just secure portal access

• Half transport expense and time

• Reserves on sale 

• No sale = no fee, commission only (unique feature of Farmgate/Fivestock)

• Increased competition

• Decreased BIO security risk

• Platform assessable by computer, table and phone

• Transparent auction results

For the Industry

Farmgate/Fivestock has unique features on their platform that greatly improves market transparency to what the Market/Abattoirs are paying.

Unique reporting features include:

• Auction Results include $/head and c/kg conversion

• Auction Results include the town in which stock are travelling to

• Filter individual auction results by: Breed, Stock Category, Sex, Age, Weight and location

When the Parliamentary Inquiry was launched Senator McKIm stated one of the objective  “The ... supply chain is racked by lack of transparency. More transparency would make it easier to understand the pressure points and where the profits are being made.”

The Parliamentary Inquiry

The parliamentary inquiry into grocery prices is being led by Greens senator Nick McKim

Senator McKim says he intends to run an inquiry which he hopes will lead to lower food and grocery prices. “We want to understand how it can be that Coles and Woolies are booking up billions in profits when millions of Australians are struggling,” he says

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said farmers were not receiving good prices and the huge mark-ups by supermarkets did not “pass the pub test”. Carrie LaFrenz Financial Review 4th January 2024.

Recommendations the Parliamentary Inquiry must consider if serious.

Mandate that Abattoirs/Buyers only by products sold on these platforms to:

• Improved animal welfare – remove the number of time liverstock are transported thus reducing the events of deaths, injury and animal stress.

• Improve greenhouse/carbon emissions through streamlines the process.

• Remove sale yard price collusion.

• Increase profits for our farmers without impacting market prices (transport cost)

• Improve fair and transparent pricing from farm gate to abattoirs to supermarkets to consumers.

• Improve BIO Security Risks.

When Sustainable and Transformation Technology to is available we have a social responsibility to educate and encourage adoption to manage risk, increase sustainability, encourage actionable insights and understanding.

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