Latest news with #RedMeatAdvisoryCouncil
ABC News
6 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Cattle industry ditches pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2030
Less than a decade after the red meat industry promised to reach net-zero emissions by 2030, it has abandoned the goal claiming it is not possible. A review conducted by the Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC) found it was not achievable to meet the ambitious 2030 net-zero target announced by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) in 2017 and adopted in 2019. Independent chair, Red Meat Advisory Council, John McKillop, said it was partly due to a better understanding of emissions reduction and a realisation they were not on track to reach the target. "We just, quite frankly, realised we're not going to get to carbon neutral by 2030," he said. Livestock contributes about 11 per cent of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the national greenhouse gas inventory. Mr McKillop said dropping the target would not impact any research and development programs. "We'll still be trying to reduce our emissions as much as we can, but the focus will now be on emissions intensity rather than the absolute number of tonnes of carbon emitted," he said. The Red Meat Advisory Council will request Meat and Livestock Australia complete modelling on emissions intensity, which it estimates will take a year before any new five- and 10-year targets are set for the industry. Pressed on whether this reversal would receive any backlash from consumers or key export markets, Mr McKillop was resolute. "No, I don't think so. I think you could look at it and say, 'Well, that was a really ambitious target. You got 78 per cent of the way there, five years out from it,'" he said. In a statement, a spokesperson for Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the industry would be required to continue to reduce emissions. "The Albanese Labor government has supported the red meat industry in its ambitious goal to be carbon neutral by 2030," they said. "While the decision by industry to step away from this aspiration is disappointing, this does not change the need for Australian agriculture to continue to contribute to the economy-wide 2035 targets and the net-zero by 2050 goal, which will require all sectors across agriculture to make meaningful emissions reductions." Romy Carey, CEO of the NT Cattlemen's Association, told the NT Country Hour the change should not be viewed as a backward step. "The original CN30 plan wasn't grounded in a workable industry-wide plan," she said. "I don't think it's a step backwards but a bit of a strategic realignment." However, Farmers for Climate Action CEO Natalie Collard said any change to emissions methodology must have integrity and be widely accepted. "We understand RMAC dropping the carbon-neutral by 2030 target because most farmers won't achieve net-zero emissions by then," she said. "However, we're a science-based organisation, so we can't pretend 'climate neutral' and 'GWP*' [global warming potential] is a credible science." "We have never had to greenwash. Why would we start now? "This methodology has never been modelled … and it would also mean that a sheep would have higher emissions intensity than a cow, simply because of the lower weight. It just doesn't make sense." Caitlin Webb from VC Reid Livestock said the news was a relief for farmers, and the initial target might not have been practical. "I think it's good; it takes a lot of stress off the farmers," she said.
ABC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
'Like trying to export gas to Qatar': Australia's beef policy under review
Nearly every country around the world is considering what it can offer the United States to reduce wide-ranging trade tariffs put in place by President Trump. When the President announced his so called 'Liberation Day' tariffs, he singled out Australia, saying we ban American beef from being imported. Now it seems the Australian government are taking his comments to heart, offering to review existing biosecurity rules, which ban the import of some U-S slaughtered beef. The offer is reportedly an effort to reduce the 50 per cent tariff Australian steel and aluminium imports to the U-S face, and the 10 per cent tariffs on other imports. ABC NewsRadio's Sarah Morice spoke with John McKillop, the Chair of the Red Meat Advisory Council.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Surprising loser in Trump tariff plan
US President Donald Trump's new tariffs on Australian beef could backfire, with the move likely to increase the price of his beloved McDonald's quarter pounder. A report released by the US Trade Representative, which highlights foreign barriers to US trade, said Australian agriculture exporters had an unfair advantage over US farmers. In response, the US will adda tariff on Australian meat coming into the country, starting from 3pm on Saturday (AEDT). Mr Trump said Australians were 'wonderful people' but imported no American beef, while the US took about $3bn worth of Australian beef a year. In its 2023 shopping list, McDonald's revealed it had used 44 million kilograms of exported Australian beef in restaurants around the world, not including Australia. Red Meat Advisory Council independent chair John McKillop told NewsWire that Australia mostly sent America trimmed meat, which was used for beef patty production. 'The only one that really loses out of this is going to be the US consumer and the only one who's going to gain will be the US cattle producers, so it's really just an internal transfer of wealth' he said. Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Tim Ryan said Australian meat made up a significant portion of US burger production. 'Australian meat, particularly lean trim, is a significant input into US burger production and is a reliable, safe protein for US consumers,' he said. 'With strong demand in the US and globally for Australian meat, the American people will be the ones to wear the cost of any tariffs applied to our exports,' Mr Ryan said. This is bad news for Mr Trump, whose love of McDonald's is well known. Ahead of the 2024 election, Mr Trump campaigned from a McDonald's restaurant, donning an apron and getting in front of a fryer, before handing out orders at the drive-through window. A photograph of him on a plane with Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Donald Trump Jr went viral for the spread of McDonald's food laid out in front of the group. In 2023, Mr Trump told workers at a McDonald's store in Ohio: 'I know this menu better than you do.' Cattle Australia chair Garry Edwards said Australian beef exports played a crucial role in complementing American shortfalls in both high-quality cuts and hamburger beef. 'Australia is the United States' preferred supplier of high-quality grass-fed steaks and their demand for this product is expected to continue, given seasonal constraints of US supply,' Mr Edwards said. 'And without Australian lean beef blended to local fatty trim, the US would need to use higher value cuts in their burgers and miss out on valuable export opportunities. 'It is important that the mutually beneficial role of each country's supply chain is recognised in these ongoing discussions.' Mr McKillop said about 70 per cent of beef production went into exports, with markets closer to home ready to fill the void. 'That meat will be absorbed. Indonesia is growing all the time with Japan, and Korea have always been there for us,' he said. According to Meat Livestock Australia, Australia sends 394,716 tonnes of beef to the US as part of its global trade. NewsWire reached out to McDonald's to see if the price of burgers would rise but has not received a response As part of Mr Trump's Make America Wealthy Again, Australian agriculture is not the only impacted sector, with pharmaceuticals and copper also facing tariff pressures. Mr Trump said the country and its taxpayers were ripped off for more than 50 years, describing the announcement as the start of America's next golden age. 'For decades our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike,' he said. 'I will announce reciprocal tariffs. That means they do it to us and we do it to them. 'With today's action we will make America great again, greater than ever before.' Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell also previously highlighted that McDonald's was one of the main buyers of Australian beef. 'The significance, of course, to the US about our beef exports is that most of it goes into McDonald's hamburgers,' he said. 'If you push up the price of those beef exports by 25 per cent or 10 per cent or whatever the figure is, then you push up the price of hamburgers. 'It doesn't make any sense.' Sign in to access your portfolio
