With 10 million dollars of funding from the
State Government’s Royalties for Regions
program, the Department of Agriculture and
Food, Western Australia has commenced a four
year project to support the state’s sheep industry.
The Sheep Industry Business Innovation project’s
aim is to assist the sheep industry to be
internationally competitive while at the same
time grow in value into the future.
The project will drive industry to build capacity
in order to supply sheep meat and live exports
to the ever-growing markets in Asia and the
Middle East, generating positive flow-on benefits
to producers, industry, the regions, communities
and the state economy.
To achieve the desired outcomes, two key strategies
have been identified.
The first is to transform the sheep supply chain.
Customer focused products will be developed
for overseas target markets and training will
be provided to industry to improve business
and technical skills in order to meet the
expected demand.
Key activities include the Lifetime Ewe Management
and Lamb Survival workshops to improve the
productivity of sheep enterprises;
driving adoption of Australian Sheep Breeding Values
for improved genetic selection; producer insight
tours to China and the Middle East to better
understand new markets; and attracting new
graduates to the industry through scholarships
and industry placements.
The second strategy is to establish a Sheep
Business Centre. Utilising and upgrading DAFWA’s
existing Katanning Research Facility and Katanning
office, together with the appointment of specialist
staff, it will establish itself as the centre
for business and technical innovation for
the WA sheep industry. The Centre will be
a ‘one-stop-shop’ for sheep information,
training and innovation.
Key activities within this component of the
project include identifying genetic markers
for important meat quality traits through
a dedicated resource flock; investigating
labour-saving flock management technologies;
and driving the implementation of the WA Sheep
Industry Strategic Plan 2025+ which aims to
double the industry’s annual value of production
by the year 2025.
And while the project is being led by the
Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia,
a number of other organisations
are partnering in the project.
Meat and Livestock Australia and the Sheep
Cooperative Research Centre are co-investing
in the project, and the WA Sheep Industry
Leadership Council will provide direction
as part of a stakeholder reference group.
Our collaborative vision for the sheep industry
is to transform from a dependence on open
market sourcing where participants work in
isolation, to one where there are dedicated
value chains with participants working together,
increasing the volume and quality of sheep
produced for the new markets, with solid returns
along the chain.
The WA Government has invested in the Sheep
Industry Business Innovation project as it
recognises the economic importance and opportunities
within the sector, and is working together
with industry partners to achieve new levels
of excellence for the sheep industry.
