Sustainable beef production Australian style

Patrick Hutchinson has recently been appointed as chair of Australian Beef Sustainability Framework Steering Group (ABSF).

He spent part of his early career in Northern Ireland working with the Livestock and Meat Commission having been introduced by the former Northern editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, James Campbell.

He went on to work for Meat and Livestock Australia and was chief executive of the Australian Meat Industry Council which represent meat processors.

He now runs his own consultancy business and recently spoke to the Irish Farmers Journal to explain how sustainability fits into Australian beef production and the role of the ABSF.

What is clear from the outset is that while sustainability is important, it is one element of the Australian beef industry.

Patrick Hutchinson’s opening comment was “we’ve got to remember sustainability is about sustaining the production of animal protein for human consumption”.

People, animal and finance

It can’t just be about what he described as the “green aspects” but also has to include the people, animal and financial aspects.

He emphasised that the role of the ASBF was “about ensuring that we have a very clear understanding of what we know is material to achieve sustainability outcomes for Australia”.

Hutchinson takes the view that “regulators need to create a minimum standard and allow the market to be able to utilise that in order to grow for specific brands or supply chains”. He explains that the model is based on four key themes:

Under these four themes, the issue of GHG emissions and carbon capture is one of 24 deliverables that are spread across the four themes or pillars as they are often described. Focusing on GHG emissions and carbon capture, the 2024 ABSF annual report shows that there has been a 78.2% reduction in emissions compared with the 2005 baseline.

A lot of people concentrate on the farmer and the environmental stewardship only and that’s it, whereas we have to look at the whole [picture]”

It is important to point out that sequestration is included in this calculation and carbon sequestration in on farm vegetation and fewer emissions from and use change are the main drivers of the reduction.

Importance of beef to Australia

Picking up on the economic resilience and people and the community themes, Hutchinson pointed out that “beef is worth AUS$25bn (€14.5bn) to the Australian economy every year and is a massive business for rural regional Australia.

A lot of people concentrate on the farmer and the environmental stewardship only and that’s it, whereas we have to look at the whole [picture]”.

He also spoke of the multitude of varied markets supplied by Australian beef exporters and how it was necessary to meet the various compliance requirements within a single system.

He explained that “we have to understand what different countries are looking for and we show them the prescription [for delivering that], we don’t want them prescribing to us how to achieve an outcome.”

That would have the effect of creating multiple systems and he used the example he recalled from his time in Northern Ireland on the housing of cattle to illustrate.

“Australia is great at distilling all of those [components] together so that it can create a single system to meet the needs of everyone.”

What is Australian Beef Sustainability Framework?

The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF) has been in place since 2017.

Its role is “to create a pathway of best practice for the Australian beef industry and track performance against a series of critical indicators aligned to the themes of best animal care, environmental stewardship, economic resilience and people and the community.”

These themes or pillars have 24 priority issues within them and 53 indicators which are used to monitor progress against recognised standards and metrics.

They define sustainability in the context of their beef industry as “he production of beef in a manner that is socially, environmentally and economically responsible. We do this through the care of natural resources, people and the community, the health and welfare of animals, and the drive for continuous improvement.”

Australia’s consistent position in global beef trade

Australia is consistently the second or third largest beef exporter even though there are several countries that have greater beef production. This is because 70% of production is exported into global markets with 30% consumed in the domestic market.

Major drought

Climate has a significant role in Australian production with periodic droughts causing a heavy clearance of cattle, which is followed by a cycle of herd rebuilding.

The most recent major drought was at the end of the last decade and as beef export figures in Figure 1 show, this created a strong volume of supply for exports in 2019 and 2020.

This was followed by a rebuilding phase when export volumes declined in 2021 and 2022 with recovery since 2023 to an expected peak in 2025.

Last year was a record for Australian beef export volumes; beating the previous record set in 2014 and 2025 is forecast to create another new record.

The cattle herd in Figure 2 shows that there was a heavy cull in 2019 and 2020 with the rebuild commencing in 2021 and MLA expects that this will have peaked last year with a small decline forecast over the next two years due to strong global demand for beef.

Beef exports to the US have increased dramatically with a 60% increase in 2024 and the US is now by far the largest export market with the next three most important markets are in neighbouring Asian countries.

Volumes to Japan and Korea to a lesser extent increased last year though China posted a small drop. For full details, see Figure 3.

In the interview with Patrick Hutchinson, he mentioned that the UK is a growing market and while they did receive 6,296 tonnes of Australian beef last year, more than double the previous year, it remains a small market in the overall context of Australian beef exports.

Comment

From speaking to Patrick Hutchinson, it is clear that while Australia takes sustainability in its beef production and processing industry serious, it isn’t a standalone issue. Rather it is incorporated in a framework that includes animal care, economic sustainability and a people and community pillar.

In other words, it is part of a bigger picture of what is required for Australian beef to meet the requirements of a worldwide portfolio of customers.

Livestock production in Australia is always vulnerable to prolonged drought in a similar way to which farming in Ireland is vulnerable to prolonged wet spells.

That in itself means that climate will constantly be in the forefront of farmers minds, and the Australian industry believe they have built in a proportionate response in their ABSF.

In short