1. Dr Dale Miller Research Sub-program Leader

2. Tasmanian Red Meat Industries $240M from livestock (06/07) ¼ of gross farm gate value of Tas. agriculture 2500 commercial beef and sheep meat producers

3. Tasmanian Agricultural Land Red Meat Producers manage a significant proportion of the state’s natural resources. Source: Prof. Tony Norton

4. Current Red Meat Industry Issues GlobalNationalLocal Availability of creditProducer’s declining terms of trade Rationalisation of industries Climate changeClimate change & Government policy Drought management & pasture decline Rising demand for foodDemand for healthier, smarter foods Biosecurity & food quality, including GM usage Demand for sustainable, clean, & ethical farming Public scrutiny of animal production systems incl. welfare & environment Response to reduced sheep numbers Rising oil valuesRising fertiliser and energy costsAlternative enterprises/use Trade liberalisationReliability of water suppliesAvailability of skilled labour

5. Financial Benchmarking Project Aims: improve farm business management decisions and develop industry level financial data. 3-year statewide project, funded by DPIW aim for 200 businesses, ends 2010 identify drivers of profitability & areas for improvement promote benchmarking as a business management tool GlobalNationalLocal Availability of creditProducer’s declining terms of trade Rationalisation of industries Rising oil valuesRising fertiliser and energy costsAlternative enterprises/use

6. Spatial analysis of farm attributes and profitability GlobalNationalLocal Climate changeClimate change & Government policy Rationalisation of industries Demand for sustainable, clean, & ethical farming Public scrutiny of animal production systems incl. welfare & environment Response to reduced sheep numbers Aims: relate profitability to bio-physical attributes of farms using GIS, to develop industry decision support tools 2-year project, funded by MLA & UTAS, ends mid-2009 Masters student – Sarah Gatenby proof of concept then scaled up to industry level questions

7. Increase sheep breeding performance GlobalNationalLocal Demand for sustainable, clean, & ethical farming Public scrutiny of animal production systems incl. welfare & environment Response to reduced sheep numbers Aim: to improve neonate lamb survival rates studies of metabolic maturity at birth, funded by MLA national review on genetics and epigenetics, Sheep CRC dual-purpose winter cereal crops for shelter and improved ewe nutrition in early lactation, MLA ?

8. Increasing meat production through irrigation GlobalNationalLocal Rising oil valuesRising fertiliser and energy costsAlternative enterprises/use Reliability of water supplies Aim: develop grazing systems for irrigated winter cereals studies on SR, grazing method, residuals after grazing funded by MLA (08/09), Grain and Graze (07/08) benefits = diversify income & spread costs, faster turnoff, pasture rest periods, fill winter feed supply gap.

9. Development of sustainable grazing systems GlobalNationalLocal Climate changeClimate change & Government policy Drought management & pasture decline Demand for sustainable, clean, & ethical farming Public scrutiny of animal systems incl. welfare & environment Rising fertiliser and energy costs Aims: develop productive, low input, mixed perennial pastures & an understanding of selective grazing study newly developed TIAR pasture species – Eric Hall 3-5 year project, seek funding from AFF, CFOC and MLA WUE, resilience, productivity, nutritive quality & species integration plus diet selection and persistence

10. Contact Details: Dale.Miller@dpiw.tas.gov.au (03) 6336 5340 0409140804