Sheep news briefs: Shearers demand better pay and conditions, live export sentiment lifts, record lamb slaughter and WoolPoll results

AWU says shearers are working for poverty wages in unsafe sheds

The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has called on the federal government to create a new national licensing and enforcement body after reports of labour exploitation in shearing sheds across the country.

The resolution was passed at AWU's National Conference in Perth on Wednesday.

Ross Kenna, lead organiser with the AWU Victorian Branch’s Country Team went so far as to say that shearers of the 1800s would be ashamed to see what’s happening in shearing sheds in 2024.

“Today we are once again seeing young shearers working for poverty wages in unsafe conditions," Mr Kenna said.

“A national licensing system for shearing contractors is a must if we want to protect our workers’ rights and safety. 

"Some of the conditions in shearing sheds today would make our founding members turn in their graves."

Sentiment on live export more positive than ever: Survey

Public sentiment towards live exports is more positive than ever and the Australian Live Export Council (ALEC) says it's further proof that the Government’s decision to ban live sheep exports by sea is unjustified.

In a project spanning six years, Voconiq collected the comprehensive dataset on Australian attitudes toward the livestock export industry, funded by the research bodies for livestock exporters and producers, LiveCorp and Meat & Livestock Australia.

“We know that the community holds balanced and nuanced views on live exports. They understand that the measures exporters put in place together with Australia’s regulatory requirements, is why Australia has the best animal welfare in the world," ALEC CEO, Mark Harvey-Sutton said

“They also understand that the Labor Government’s punitive ban on live sheep will hurt farmers, truckies and small businesses, particularly in Western Australia, and that it is manifestly unfair,” he said.

He said that the fact that 76% of survey respondents agreed that ‘the benefits of the industry are equal to or outweigh the costs of live export’ indicates that people can see the need for live exports as part of Australia’s sheep industry.

The community also acknowledges the important role the industry plays in our trading partners’ food security, with 64% of respondents agreeing that the trade improved diet and nutrition in our markets.

“The increase in community sentiment here puts the Government’s tired line about ‘support for the ban’ to bed. It’s simply not true and this survey is further evidence toward that.”

LiveCorp CEO Wayne Collier said the results show the Australian community thinks about livestock exports very differently to the way it is portrayed by many, particularly on social media.

“It’s really pleasing to see that people are open to learning more about the industry and its performance, and, interestingly, the survey results suggest that people are more positive once they do know more,” Mr Collier said.

The report is available here.

On track for record lamb slaughter

Quarterly national lamb slaughter of 6.3m head is 12% lower than last quarter and 5% below the same point last year, while production last quarter was also down 16% from last quarter at 177,147 tonnes.

“Despite quarter three lamb dipping in quarter three, Australia is still on track for record lamb slaughter and production this year. For the year to September 2024, we had processed 20,272,000 lambs which produced 488,566 tonnes of lamb meat” MLA’s Manager of Market Information Stephen Bignell said.

“After an extremely strong second quarter which broke records, lamb production has come back. A delay in production was expected due to conditions currently experienced across southern regions of the country.

Lamb carcase weights eased 4% to 23.6kg nationally. Positive conditions across the state of New South Wales helped produced the largest lambs with an average of 26kg/carcase.  

Meanwhile, mutton production rose 2% from the previous quarter and 26% from Q3 last year to 69,093 tonnes. 

In year-to-date terms, mutton production has totalled 206,701 tonnes, which is 16% higher than the first nine months of 2023 and is the highest year to date production figure since 2002.

Producers decline to lift wool levy to 2%

Australia's wool producers have spoken and they've decided to maintain a 1.5% levy for the next strategic cycle of wool research, development and marketing - instead of adopting the 2% sought by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI).

WoolProducers President Mr Steven Harrison said WoolProducers decided not to advocate for a levy rate option in this year’s WoolPoll, after consideration of the Voter Information Memorandum (VIM) found that there was not sufficient information to make a recommendation and also in recognition of the tough times that woolgrowers are currently experiencing.

“WoolProducers believed that given the depressed market conditions and tough seasonal circumstances many growers find themselves in, that it really was up to individual enterprises to determine what they thought was an appropriate rate to pay for research, development and marketing.”

During the WoolPoll voting period AWI went to great lengths to stress the need for 2% for them to continue investing in their identified priority areas.

“Now that 1.5% has been delivered it is up to AWI to invest this money wisely on behalf of Australian woolgrowers,” Mr Harrison said.

This year's WoolPoll recorded the lowest ever voter turn out.