Grain growers lash out at precedent the sheep live-ex ban sets

The viability of mixed farms in the west was at serious risk from the policy, and that would have flow-on effects to agribusiness and rural communities, growers have warned.

In its submission to the consultation panel for the phase-out of live sheep exports by sea, Grain Producers Australia said the anti-farming agenda would be emboldened by this ban, applying its significant funding, resources and subversive strategies to target cattle and grains.

Chief executive Colin Bettles said there were fears the ban would set a dangerous precedent which would encourage other extreme activist groups targeting the cropping sector, such as those ideologically opposed to the use of fertilisers, pesticides and biotechnology, despite heavy regulation and objective scientific evidence of their safety.

The live sheep ban "signals to grain producers that meeting the community's expectations is futile, and our industries are subject to political whims and activist agendas, despite performance and evidence," Mr Bettles said.

The GPA submission said many Western Australian growers relied on sheep production as part of their farming production mix.

On average, between 30 and 40 per cent of a mixed farmer's land was used for sheep. WA accounts for about one-third of the nation's crop.

GPA analysis from Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows in 2020-21 O'Connor was the biggest grain producing electorate in Australia, valued at $3.8 billion; Durack was seventh, valued at $1.2 billion and Pearce 14th, valued at $154 million.

"Many WA farmers maintain viability by grazing sheep on parts of their land which is not viable for growing crops," Mr Bettles said.

"These farming systems have benefitted from long-term research and development investments which have focused on delivering complementary outcomes, to benefit overall farm production, and therefore social and economic returns."

For example, WA grain growers use lupins as a nitrogen fixing rotation crop, which saves fertiliser. The crop is used for animal feed. Lupins may become an unviable rotation crop without the sheep.

Further, grain growers are heavily dependent on export markets.

"There is a concern that the ban on live sheep exports will negatively impact the perception of Australia as being a secure and stable long-term source of products," Mr Bettles said.

Grain growers had grave concerns about the flawed interpretation of 'social license' used to justify this ban, Mr Bettles said.

"And subsequently the dangerous, poor precedent this ban sets for all of Australian agriculture and the broader community, creating greater uncertainty, confusion and loss of confidence - especially for vital industry investments needed to sustain and grow productivity.

"Despite significant reforms, including voluntary export moratoriums during riskier shipping periods for heat stress, the live sheep industry has been judged and punished retrospectively."

The markets Australian live sheep go to would continue to source livestock supplied by other countries where no such welfare standards and oversight systems apply, GPA said.

"Given mortality rates are at record lows, this decision is counterintuitive to the core values on animal welfare and the role of food producers, shared by the community," Mr Bettles said.

"This panel process needs to consider the fact that we require a clear and transparent definition of social license to work with in future."

Without this, Australian producers and farming industries would face even greater uncertainty in confronting an even more volatile future, the GPA submission argued.

"We will be held hostage to increased political opportunism from extreme activism, incentivised by misinformation and sensationalist media reporting designed to achieve guilty-before-proven-innocent verdicts in the court of public opinion," Mr Bettles said.

"As Dwight D. Eisenhower said: 'Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field'. The same goes for anti-farming activists. Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a mobile phone, with Twitter and Facebook at your fingertips, whilst you're a thousand kilometres from a wheat field."