Agtech experts say the latest developments in liberalised trade between Australia and the United Kingdom could be the necessary push that investors need to get involved in the sector.
That, in turn, would represent a big step forward in boosting development and uptake of technology that will underpin the type of Australian red meat claims likely to deliver premiums.
Red meat industry leaders have welcomed the latest agreement around parameters of an A-UK Free Trade Agreement, describing it as a quality outcome with a long-term partner.
The deal, once signed and ratified, will result in Australian beef, sheep meat and goat meat exports entering the UK under a tariff rate quota regime, with initial TRQ tonnages gradually increasing over ten years whilst the quota tariff is linearly reduced.
Remo Carbone, from MEQ Probe - an agtech startup that uses spectral analysis to measure the intramuscular fat of lamb - said the UK was a high-end market and this deal represented increased access to a global consumer willing to pay a premium for high-quality red meat with claims that could be substantiated.
The red meat sector risked losing out to global competitors unless more investor interest could be brought in to agtech solutions, he said.
"If you're an investor in the ag space, there have been challenges in recent times - access to China and COVID being two of the key ones," Mr Carbone said.
"Free trade deals like this one unlock big opportunities for the sector and as such are a vote of confidence.
"There is no silver bullet (to attracting investment) but this drives confidence.
"It provides incentive to adopt the latest technology."
For premium meat products, what was crucial was backing up claims, Mr Carbone said.
"More and more objective data into the supply chain is the way to do that," he said.
"By adopting technology and using the data to make decisions, we can guarantee the consistent quality and experience the consumer will have."
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