MORE than 130 farmers from Gunning, Crookwell, Yass and Goulburn areas turned out yesterday to hear leading industry experts from across Australia and New Zealand discuss up-to-date trends in livestock and wool markets, as well as advances in sheep production practices at the Insights into sheep and beef markets and modern production systems forum held at the Gunning showgrounds.
Hosted by the Tablelands Farming Systems (TFS) with support from its major sponsors Australian Wool Network (AWN) and Rabobank Goulburn, the first-time event provoked an enormous response, with experts from Australia and New Zealand delivering speeches on subjects such as improved agricultural market access, wool trading to China and beyond and modern sheep management practices.
Chairman of the Tablelands Farming Systems, Tom McGuiness, said the forum provided a unique opportunity for producers to better understand agricultural markets from a domestic and international perspective.
“Having been part of today’s discussion, I am confident we are now better positioned to meet market demand as well as capitalise on opportunities to expand our reach into China and beyond,” Mr McGuiness said.
“Coupling this market intelligence with advances in sheep management systems pulled together the ‘whole farm picture’ for me and has certainly given me a lot to think about in terms of how to integrate what we learnt into our current management practices.”
Guest speaker, New Zealand-based animal proteins analyst for Rabobank, Matt Costello, highlighted how improved market access and a greater focus on the negotiation of free trade agreements were key to securing the future profitability of the Australian sheep and beef industries.
“The Australian government has made improving market access a major priority and after negotiating the free trade agreement with Japan and Korea, China is now the focus,” Mr Costello said.
“With future trade growth expected to come from Asia and the Middle East, urgency should be placed on improving access to these markets too.
Trading manager for Australia’s largest wool buyer, Techwool, Josh Lamb, spoke about improving communication lines between growers and exporters with a view it will ensure long-term survival and profitability within the industry.
He too reiterated the need to continue the push into the Asian markets.
“China is a tough market to operate in at the moment and the uncertainty stemming from China’s slowing economy is only adding to the buying pressure for wool buyers and processors,” he said.
“The Australian wool industry needs to continually adjust to meet the demand and quality requirements of the Chinese market.
“Doing that is the best way to ride the wave of ups and downs in the current market conditions.”
Taking a production focus was Nuffield Scholar and Queensland farmer, James Walker.
Mr Walker provided valuable insights into intensive sheep breeding systems and the opportunity to rebuild flock numbers by moving from observation to real time measureable data management.
He said his system wasn’t one that would suit all farms, but it is important to understand that there are new and different ways of doing things.
State manager NSW, AWN, Mark Hedley, said it was pleasing to see so many people attend the day.
“Josh presented some cold hard facts about the wool industry, but as James pointed out, from adversity comes opportunity,” Mr Hedley said.
“It is now up to those who attended today to take back what they have learnt and apply it to their individual businesses.
TFS project officer Jen Medway said the success of the day was down to the innovative and dynamic speakers who gave their honest and frank views on the current industry situation, be that good or bad.
“The growers certainly recognised and appreciated the rare opportunity to discuss these important issues with industry experts in an open and interactive way,” Mrs Medway said.