Stakeholder spotlight: Southern Australian Livestock Research Council

Producers play a vital role in keeping the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF) relevant, and the Southern Australian Livestock Research Council (SALRC) is deeply connected with them.

As an advisory council, SALRC has a broad reach, incorporating seven regional livestock producer groups and engaging with producers across southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia.

SALRC Chair Ian Rogan explained that council’s extensive network helps uncover a wide range of research and development (R&D) priorities.

“We use that network of producers to identify issues that are important and could be addressed through investment in R&D,” Ian said.

“The producers in SALRC live across really diverse production systems, there are really dry rangeland areas and then producers in higher rainfall, temperate climate areas in southern states. Often their priorities are quite different, so we compile them all to submit to MLA to determine what investments should be made.”

With its reach across five states, the SALRC network is a valuable resource – and industry stakeholders recognise its significance.

Alongside Meat & Livestock Australia, other organisations such as CSIRO, universities and various government agriculture departments pay membership fees to SALRC to access producer insights and priorities.

“If an organisation were planning something like an animal health priority area that we support, they might bring their project plan to our committees who will help to bounce ideas around and further develop the project so it can be most effective. It’s a really useful network,” Ian said.

Recent SALRC producer priorities include:

• pink eye prevention and treatment
• real-time nutritional value testing of pastures
• delivery mechanisms to decrease methane emissions in grazing systems.

SALRC’s role in sustainability

At a recent SALRC conference, the advisory council explored what sustainability means to their members, identifying intergenerational legacy and maintaining social capital to operate.

As a key connection point for producers across southern and eastern Australia, SALRC presents a significant opportunity for the ABSF to engage with stakeholders.

“SALRC believes it’s important to be represented around the table when discussions about  the ASBF have taken place,” Ian said.

Just as SALRC members contribute to shaping the ABSF, they are also critical to unlocking the data that underpins it.

“We’re able to pilot and test thinking and metrics for data collection, and where there are identified gaps in knowledge and data, we can help champion the research priorities for some of those harder-to-reach measurements.”

By contributing valuable data insights, SALRC aims to support the ABSF and, in turn, strengthen the red meat industry. 

“Sustainability-related issues are absolutely core to the future of the red meat industry.”