Knives out: AgForce warns of UK group’s threat to skewer state’s beef industry
Companies embroiled in the shadowy mission of a UK-based organisation to pressure British food outlets into cutting their meat supplies have triggered an angry rebuke from peak farming groups, including Queensland’s AgForce.
Major supermarket retailers Coles and Woolworths have already been publicly outed for their affiliations with the group calling itself the Business Benchmark on Animal Welfare, which proposes to rank companies based on their commitment to “reducing reliance on animal products”.
Behind the strategy is a wider mission to halve the multi-billion dollar livestock industry by 2040, a move that would have dire consequences for Queensland, Australia’s largest producer of beef.
It is not yet known if any Queensland companies have been caught up in the group’s agenda.
Woolworths has reportedly placed its relationship with the overseas organisation under review.
AgForce CEO Michael Guerin said the proposal was part of an “extreme agenda” adrift from accepted science, joining calls with the National Farmers Federation for food suppliers to rebuff the group’s overtures.
“Australia’s strong regulatory environment and track record – both on animal welfare and sustainability – means there is no ethical reason to reduce demand for Australian livestock products at all,” he said.
“It is horrifying to think that businesses are affiliating themselves with an organisation that has got things so wrong.”
“We take animal welfare incredibly seriously in Australia, and our agriculture is often talked about as being the envy of the rest of the world.
“One of the main reasons we produce such high-quality food and fibre is the health of our livestock. You can’t have one without the other, which is why it’s essential we promote continuous improvement in animal welfare.”
Guerin said the latest report from the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework, firmly cements Australia’s position as a nutritional powerhouse – revealing the country delivered 32.3 billion portions of red meat globally between 2021 and 2022, with the bulk of the volumes from Queensland.
He said figures showed the industry had also more than halved its CO2 emissions since 2005, recording a reduction of 58.21 per cent in 2019.
“As an industry we take great responsibility and accountability in working towards nature positive goals – soil, vegetation, water and biodiversity are always front of mind,” Guerin said.
“Businesses should be working with farmers to progress animal welfare outcomes, not affiliating themselves with extremist groups on the other side of the world.”
