Australia: Cattle farmers 'on brink of ruin'

MORE than 85 per cent of cattle producers are out of pocket because of the Indonesian live export crisis, with half having to sack staff and others struggling to meet bank payments.
According to one of the first government surveys since the Gillard government suspended trade for a month on June 8, West Australian farmers are immediately concerned about having enough cash to provide food and water for their stranded cattle.
No Australian companies have yet to be granted an export permit and meet new animal welfare requirements set in place by the federal government when the ban was lifted on July 6.
Industry figures warned yesterday that many farmers were on the brink of financial ruin as the $320 million sector would not return to previous levels until next year at the earliest.
Elders is hoping to have a permit granted soon and its first cattle shipment to Indonesia by early next month, but trade will start small as tracking systems and independent auditing of abattoirs are implemented.
The WA government survey questioned 37 pastoralists and 10 related businesses on June 17 in Broome and in Geraldton on June 24. It found future profitability was a major concern.
Forming part of the state government's submission to a Senate inquiry into a permanent ban on live exports, it concludes 86 per cent of pastoralists "have (incurred) or are incurring additional costs" and the ban had hit their business. These costs included feeding stranded cattle, freight costs, loss of export sales and lower prices for cattle.
The suspension has also caused 51 per cent of pastoralists to reduce staff, 73 per cent to change mustering plans and 70 per cent to defer maintenance.
"Short term, the main constraints on pastoral businesses are cashflow and the additional feed and water required for retained cattle," the survey, conducted by the WA Department of Agriculture and Food finds.
"Restricted cashflow will result in staff being laid off, cancellation of all non-essential spending and in some cases difficulty making repayments."
The department said the survey reflected the situation last month; it expected cattle producers would have "moved forward in planning and action" since the lifting of the ban.
WA Agriculture Minister Terry Redman said he was hoping to visit Indonesia again in September and urged the federal government to help exporters meet new permit conditions.
"There are two immediate things the federal government needs to be doing," he said. "Maximum engagement with industry to ensure export permits can be issued as a matter of speed, and investing every energy into rebuilding Australia's trade and diplomatic relationship with Indonesia if the industry is to have a long-term, sustainable and growing future."
Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association chief executive Luke Bowen said farmers would be affected for months by the temporary suspension.
"It is possible that only 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the historic trade may go this year," he told ABC yesterday."If that happened, 60 per cent or more would need to go somewhere else or be held back on properties if it was physically possible to do so, and financially possible to do so."


Fuente: The Australian

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