Northern beef businesses in Western Australia have received further support from the Department of Agriculture and Food to undertake business improvements to better meet export and domestic specifications and demand for WA beef and live cattle.
Almost 55 businesses have taken up the opportunity to participate in the department’s Northern Beef Futures (NBF) Business Improvement Grants (BIG) – an incentive of up to $25 000 to connect enterprises with business advice and mentoring support to enhance their competitiveness and growth prospects.
Department senior policy officer Christine Thompson said the program aimed to give pastoralists the opportunity to review their business and the confidence to take advantage of new market opportunities.
“The BIG program is a vital component of the NBF project’s aim to facilitate practice change and build capability in the northern beef industry,” Ms Thompson said.
“The NBF team is encouraged by the progress made by northern beef businesses in identifying key issues and making changes that will allow them to grow their enterprise.
“Of the 54 participating businesses, 35 have already completed their initial review and built their business plans and are now developing enterprise-specific project proposals to implement changes.”
Ms Thompson said DeGrey Station, located east of Port Hedland in the Pilbara, was one of the early adopters to receive the go-ahead to implement its business plan.
The station has a history of trialing innovative cattle management and livestock handling techniques.
DeGrey owner-manager Mark Bettini said the opportunity to work with a consultant, review the station’s business and prepare a business plan as Part 1 of the BIG program had provided tangible results.
“My wife and I met the business consultant off-site so there were no distractions and we used a SWOT [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats] analysis,” Mr Bettini said.
“It was a good process to go through; getting a business professional to look at our operation from the outside, with a ‘fresh set of eyes’.
“The review helped us identify the opportunity to easily improve herd data recording and analysis for more efficient and effective herd management decision-making to increase beef production and improve sustainability.
“As a result, we developed a project, broke it down into bite-sized steps on a timeline, and we now know how to get the job done and the people who will be responsible.”
The Bettinis have now progressed to the Part 2 implementation phase of the grant and plan to start trialing the herd data recording and analysis technology.
Mr Bettini said he would review the data and the trial at the end of the year to inform culling decisions. Once effective on the stud herd, he would roll the technology out for use on his commercial herd.
“The process of working with a business consultant has changed the way we do business,” Mr Bettini said.
“We’ll definitely continue to take time out and meet the consultant offsite each year to review how the business is going, see where we can step up and improve, and plan the year ahead.”
More information about the Northern Beef Futures project and business improvement grant program is available on the department website.
The department’s Northern Beef Futures project is made possible by the State Government’s Royalties for Regions program.
Media contacts: Jodie Thomson/ Dionne Tindale, media liaison +61 (0)8 8368 3937