Plenty of livestock producers are keen to see greater government scrutiny of the disparity between supermarket beef and lamb prices and the rates they are receiving.
However, there is also plenty of talk within the cattle business that there is more to that than meets the eye.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has called for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to hold an inquiry.
He argues it would have more power to act and be more effective than the review the Albanese Government has announced into the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says government intervention into what is fundamentally a market dynamic is unwarranted.
However, he does see a case for improving transparency "so that no matter where you sit in the value chain you are able to understand the conditions of trade and the terms of commercial dealings."
Prominent beef and sheepmeat analyst Matt Dalgleish, Episode 3, was asked about the issue during his presentation at the Cattle Australia annual general meeting forum in Albury last week.
He said the type of volatility that was seen at the saleyard was never matched at the retail end.
And that was true of many commodities.
"The wheat price whips around daily but the price of bread or Weetbix rarely changes," he said.
"With extensive supply chains like red meat you don't tend to see the volatility at the consumer end."
He said red meat retail prices were deflating at the moment and, at least until the end of the year, it was likely the price pressure would continue.
On the topic of greater transparency in the supply chain, particularly from processors, he said: "As market economists, we champion transparency but I'd balance that out with a statement around risks to Australian beef's competitiveness internationally.
"If you look to the United States as an example, they have fantastic, regulated transparency - you can tell exactly what is going on in that cattle market.
"But 90 per cent of what they produce they consume at home. They are nowhere near as much in the global competitive space as we are."
Seventy per cent of Australia's beef production is exported into highly competitive markets.
Mr Dalgleish said producers, and indeed other supply chain participants, needed guarantees they weren't getting a raw deal but that had to be balanced with "not giving away too much information that might harm Australia's competitive advantages into export markets."
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
