A target set by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) for Australian beef farming to be carbon neutral by 2030 was described as “pie in the sky stuff” by a beef exporter from the country.
Director of Australian based Nature’s Choice Exports Edgar Price said: “God knows where we’re going with this.”
He warned that Australia’s carbon emissions reduction targets are “easy to talk about”, but “lack any detail or realistic plans” on how these emissions reduction targets will be achieved.
The MLA and Nature’s Choice Exports stands stood alongside each other at Gulfood 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), last week. Contradictory perspectives on the climate targets for Australian farming were evident between the two.
Neutral
MLA is a research, marketing and innovation group for Australian livestock production and had a large team present at Gulfood 2022.
The group has set a target for Australian beef production to be carbon neutral by 2030 and already claims that sheep farming in the country is at net zero carbon emissions.
MLA team members handed out leaflets at the trade event which listed the climate credentials of Australian livestock farming.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, a team member said: “At current production and consumption levels, the Australian red meat industry isn’t committing to global warming.
“[Australian] agriculture’s climate targets are ahead of most other industries in Australia and around the world.”
Targets
The group attributes its climate claims and bases its targets off analysis conducted by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.
Elsewhere, the Australian government has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030 and says reduction in agricultural emissions will take into account the sector’s contribution to overall export growth for the country.
The government has also set an economy-wide target of net zero emissions by 2050.
In October 2021, the National Farmers Federation of Australia said it “backs” the aspiration of net zero emissions by 2050, but noted that an “economic pathway” without “unnecessary red tape” must be identified for farmers.
Detail
Considering the points made on climate by his Australian colleagues, beef exporter Edgar Price insisted that the MLA target for the sector to be carbon neutral by 2030 is “unrealistic”.
He said “these plans” lack detail and that he hasn’t “seen anything which would suggest they’ll be achieved”.
Discussing recent climate fires in Australia, Price said: “I don’t believe that the fires will have a long-term impact. Our biggest impact now is the fact that we’ve come out of three years of drought.
“With the fires, the land burns and then a couple of weeks later, it’s green again. The three years of drought, that’s what affected our [national cattle] herd.”
It’s the livestock that is actually available for slaughter which is the issue
He explained how Australia’s national cattle herd is in a “time of rebuild”.
“The volume is down and the livestock availability for slaughter is not there because the farmers have had two really good seasons and they’re now restocking.
“There’s plenty of livestock, but it’s the livestock that is actually available for slaughter which is the issue. We’re in a [herd] building phase right now."
Price said the reduced supply of cattle for slaughter in Australia is leading to increasing prices, but suggested that this will change when numbers return to pre-drought levels by “as early as next spring”.
He said farming in Australia is “a tough life, getting tougher” and that it’s now “turning into a business” which is “becoming more professional”.
Read more
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Brazil’s beef is better price but poorer quality – Brazilian beef exporter
A target set by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) for Australian beef farming to be carbon neutral by 2030 was described as “pie in the sky stuff” by a beef exporter from the country.
Director of Australian based Nature’s Choice Exports Edgar Price said: “God knows where we’re going with this.”
He warned that Australia’s carbon emissions reduction targets are “easy to talk about”, but “lack any detail or realistic plans” on how these emissions reduction targets will be achieved.
The MLA and Nature’s Choice Exports stands stood alongside each other at Gulfood 2022 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), last week. Contradictory perspectives on the climate targets for Australian farming were evident between the two.
Neutral
MLA is a research, marketing and innovation group for Australian livestock production and had a large team present at Gulfood 2022.
The group has set a target for Australian beef production to be carbon neutral by 2030 and already claims that sheep farming in the country is at net zero carbon emissions.
MLA team members handed out leaflets at the trade event which listed the climate credentials of Australian livestock farming.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, a team member said: “At current production and consumption levels, the Australian red meat industry isn’t committing to global warming.
“[Australian] agriculture’s climate targets are ahead of most other industries in Australia and around the world.”
Targets
The group attributes its climate claims and bases its targets off analysis conducted by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency.
Elsewhere, the Australian government has set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030 and says reduction in agricultural emissions will take into account the sector’s contribution to overall export growth for the country.
The government has also set an economy-wide target of net zero emissions by 2050.
In October 2021, the National Farmers Federation of Australia said it “backs” the aspiration of net zero emissions by 2050, but noted that an “economic pathway” without “unnecessary red tape” must be identified for farmers.
Detail
Considering the points made on climate by his Australian colleagues, beef exporter Edgar Price insisted that the MLA target for the sector to be carbon neutral by 2030 is “unrealistic”.
He said “these plans” lack detail and that he hasn’t “seen anything which would suggest they’ll be achieved”.
Discussing recent climate fires in Australia, Price said: “I don’t believe that the fires will have a long-term impact. Our biggest impact now is the fact that we’ve come out of three years of drought.
“With the fires, the land burns and then a couple of weeks later, it’s green again. The three years of drought, that’s what affected our [national cattle] herd.”
It’s the livestock that is actually available for slaughter which is the issue
He explained how Australia’s national cattle herd is in a “time of rebuild”.
“The volume is down and the livestock availability for slaughter is not there because the farmers have had two really good seasons and they’re now restocking.
“There’s plenty of livestock, but it’s the livestock that is actually available for slaughter which is the issue. We’re in a [herd] building phase right now."
Price said the reduced supply of cattle for slaughter in Australia is leading to increasing prices, but suggested that this will change when numbers return to pre-drought levels by “as early as next spring”.
He said farming in Australia is “a tough life, getting tougher” and that it’s now “turning into a business” which is “becoming more professional”.
Read more
‘Days of mad cow’ still affect Irish beef exports, says Australian beef exporter
Brazil’s beef is better price but poorer quality – Brazilian beef exporter
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