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WA leader in quality and environmental management assurance

9 September 2009

Western Australia is leading the rest of the country in the development and adoption of agricultural assurance programs.

That is the message to be delivered by the Department of Agriculture and Food to the national Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Conference to be held in Bunbury next week.

A department team, including development officer Danielle England, has been working with the broadacre, dairy and horticulture sectors during the past four years, encouraging the development and delivery of assurance programs.

Ms England said the State’s agricultural quality assurance programs were highly developed, which provided a good platform to deliver environmental assurance programs.

“WA is at least five years ahead of the rest of the nation in the adoption of certified quality assurance programs for a range of broadacre agricultural industries,” she said.

“International markets are demanding safe, quality food backed by an accredited quality assurance system and many customers now want to be assured the product they are buying is produced in an environmentally friendly manner.”

The department has supported the CBH Group in the ongoing development of its BetterFarmIQ food safety and quality assurance program, as well as the Blackwood Basin Group’s BESTFarms and the Mingenew-Irwin Group’s (MIG) HealthyFarms environmental management systems.

Ms England said it has used all these programs to recently help woolbrokers Primaries of WA to develop a certified environmental management and animal welfare assurance program to satisfy a market request from The Merino Company.

“Farmers were able to participate in industry specific training programs, both Better Farm IQ and either BESTFarms or MIG EMS, at a local workshop,” Ms England said.

“They then worked with their Better Farm Integrated Quality Co-ordinator to undertake just one audit for both assurance programs, saving on auditing and recording costs.”

Ms England said this simple process allowed farmers to provide certified, quality and environmentally assured product to the supply chain.

“We have to be really sure what we are marketing is backed by an audited process that provides consumers with the confidence they are getting what they paid for,” she said.

“WA is well placed to capitalise on increasing market demand from throughout the globe for food and fibre products backed by both quality and environmental assurance programs.”

The EMS Conference will be held 15-17 September in Bunbury.

Picture caption: Kojonup farmer Lynley Anderson (left), Department of Agriculture and Food development officer Danielle England and Matt Pedersen from Primaries of WA discuss the benefits of integrating food safety and environmental assurance programs on the Anderson’s farm.

Media contacts:

Danielle England, development officer                                               9881 0222

Jodie Thomson/Lisa Bertram, media liaison                          9368 3937/9368 3325