Live cattle: Northern Territory stations changing hands and the 4 week suspension to Indonesia is again getting the blame #banliveexport We wonder if this blame game will ever end? What about industry stopping cattle to Egypt and sheep to Bahrain? How come we dont hear about the impact of those, which lasted a lot longer? We assume because industry made the decision on those not the government. Perhaps if the MLA had done something when they read the report into slaughterhouse conditions in Indonesia in 2011 then the suspension wouldnt have been necessary. Industry only has itself to blame or its inaction. Across the top end of Australia, a number of high-profile cattle stations have changed hands in the past year, with many others currently listed for sale. Industry observers say it is part of the continuing fallout from the 2011 ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia. You can still see the ramifications and effects of it flowing out now, said Georgia Underwood, who manages two Northern Territory stations with her husband, Mick. Late last year their family decided to sell Riveren and Inverway stations to Indonesias largest importer of Australian live cattle, Japfa Santori. It was a hugely difficult decision, Ms Underwood told Landline. We run an efficient show, but you know, tight budgets. It had been a hard time following the live export crisis. The good news for the Underwood family is that, as part of the sale deal, they stayed on to manage the two enormous properties. Japfa Santoris head of Australian operations, Bruce Warren, says the properties are a good investment. We actually have abattoirs, we have the market, we have value adding, but we dont have the cattle, he said. Japfa Santori invited Landline into the companys Wabin processing plant, two hours from Jakarta, the first time Landline has been allowed into any Indonesian facility since the ABC Four Corners expose on the brutal mistreatment of animals three years ago. At the Wabin processing plant, animals are slaughtered and turned into bakso, or meat balls. The company, which runs its abattoirs to Australian export standards, was stunning cattle at all its facilities prior to the ban. At Wabin, the scale and logistics of feeding Indonesias more than 250 million people is laid bare. In this factory, we do about 60 tonne of bakso per month. In our sister company they do about 120 tonne of bakso per month, Mr Warren said. We also do about 125 tonne of a frankfurter type sausage. So that just gives you a little bit of an idea of the volume that comes out of Japfa. Exports at all-time high: cattlemans association This year has turned out to be a good year on Riveren, and it is also a bumper year for cattle movements north to Indonesia. More than half a million head of cattle have been shipped to Indonesia this year - double the number last year. Currently we are experiencing an all-time high of numbers out of Australia, said Tracey Hayes, the new chief executive of the Northern Territory Cattlemans Association. Nationally, the live export numbers have reached a million head ... in dollar terms, [it is] close to $1 billion. For Japfa Santori, buying Riveren presents an opportunity for the company to make a possible profit at another point along the line from paddock to market. The advantage we have with integration is that at times every area has its ups and downs, Mr Warren said. In the past Inverway and Riveren had to basically stand alone and it was do or die. The Underwood family is also coming to terms with the new arrangements. Its a pretty special part of the world up here, Mr Underwood said. I just hope live cattle exports can continue. Watch the report on Landline this Sunday at noon on ABC TV. abc.net.au/news/2014-08-17/nt-cattle-stations-sold-as-live-export-fall-out-lingers/5673468
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 23:23:17 +0000
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