New opportunities on the way for south-west lamb producers
Producers put plans for lamb on the agenda
GEORGINA Carswell reckons the future is bright for sheep farmers in south-west Queensland.
Mrs Carswell is project officer for the Supplying Premium Meat Products From Outback Queensland initiative and hoped there will soon be more opportunities than ever for producers to increase their profit margins.
She said the project was in its infancy, but held the potential for sheep farmers to unlock more lucrative opportunities to market their produce.
South West Regional Economic Development partnered with the Department of State Development to carry out the project.
“All South West RED projects are about economic development of the south-western area and one area of interest is premium meat products,” she said.
“We’re investigating all sorts of meat but it looks like there is a bit of a gap in the lamb industry, so we’re looking at doing something with sheep meat in the south-west.
“We’re looking at
value-adding and returning more of the profit back to farmers.”
It all came at a time when confidence was finally returning to the industry.
“A lot of (sheep trade) is going over the border into New South Wales, so that’s why we’re looking at doing something more locally,” she said.
“Charleville meatworks recently opened to sheep and goats, but not lambs yet, and that’s only this year.
“The new cluster fencing has been bringing a new positive outlook to the industry and people are going back into sheep who have gone out of them in the past due to wild dogs.
“So it’s a really exciting time for sheep producers in south-west Queensland and I’m really excited about helping them.”
She said meetings would soon take place with producers to discuss all the different possibilities and get some ideas on the table for initiatives such as unlocking export potential.
She said nothing had been set in stone, but the region’s producers were well placed to add value to their lamb and increase their profits by tapping into higher value premium markets such as the chilled meat export market, which was now easily accessible thanks to Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport.
Farmers interested in finding out more about the project can call Mrs Carswell on 0408 772 665.
❝ The new cluster fencing has been bringing a new positive outlook to the industry... — Georgina Carswell