Beef producers have a responsibility as stewards of the land they manage and are leaders in the adoption of environmentally responsible practices.
The future competitiveness of Australian beef producers will be influenced by increasing consumer and community scrutiny of the environmental credentials and environmental sustainability of the industry.
Cattle Council is working on an environmental accreditation for beef producers that aims to acknowledge producers for sustainable land management practices on-farm and provide a mechanism to communicate their environmental integrity to our consumers.
About the Module
The Module will work across 5 key areas: land use and management; biodiversity; soil and water; feral animals and weeds; and, greenhouse gas and energy management.
The key objectives include:
- Build knowledge and trust across the community and trade that the Australian red meat industry is committed to caring for the environment;
- Develop and argue a position on environmental labelling of meat products;
- Integration of existing and new programs through the environmental stewardship module to equip industry and government with the science, knowledge and capacity to appropriately respond to climate change; and,
- Produce a management and accreditation system to assist challenges and opportunities relevant to red meat production and consumption.
It is anticipated that this framework will include a mechanism for voluntary independent auditing of environmental performance. This would aim to ensure credibility in demonstrating environmental stewardship.
Your input
Cattle Council consults with grass roots producers and it’s state farming organisation members in the development of policy. Recently, the Cattle Council asked NSW beef producers in Dubbo, “what environmental on-farm initiatives do you think beef producers should be recognised for in an accreditation?” Feedback has been processed and will be used at the next meeting on the Environmental Module.
Are you a property owner interested in trialing the Module?
If you are a beef producer, we are interested to hear your feedback. Please download and complete the simple questionnaire and follow the return instructions at the bottom of the feedback sheet.
