Chair's Report

After several years of planning and development, the Sheep Sustainability Framework has well and truly become a live, working document. In July, we launched the Framework’s first Annual Report at Bendigo. I was impressed by the calibre of the speakers at the event and the positive attitude of the attendees towards the Framework.

Another significant milestone was the Framework’s first Consultative Committee meeting held in Melbourne on the 5 October. The Consultative Committee brought together a broad range of stakeholders in sheep industry sustainability – growers, processors, retailers, banks, NGOs, and others – to review and provide input into the evolution and operation of the Framework. The meeting was vibrant and engaging and I hope participants benefited as much from it as the Framework did.

During the Consultative Committee meeting, we released the results of the Producer Survey. The survey provided data on 13 of the metrics of the Framework as well as other data of great value to the industry as it develops its policy, research, and marketing priorities. The results of the survey have stimulated a lot of discussion internally and will no doubt continue to do so.

As always, I am grateful for the hard work of our manager at MLA, Sarah Hyland, ably supported by Bridget Peachey at AWI. The Steering Group has also been busy. We met with our beef counterparts last month and both groups participated in training on carbon farming and carbon neutral agriculture. I think we all came away feeling we had a much better understanding of this very complex area.

I hope that whatever your relationship to the sheep industry, you will continue to engage with the Sheep Sustainability Framework and let us know what we can improve.

Finally, a sad note on which to finish my report. We learned of the recent passing of Steven Read, a former member of the Sheep Sustainability Group. Steve was CEO at Michell Wool and a very well-respected figure in the international wool industry. I acknowledge Steven’s contribution to the Framework and extend my condolences to his family.