September 30, 2014

Australia's Cattle Council slams MLA over board's composition
 

The Cattle Council of Australia has criticised resolutions released yesterday by Meat & Livestock for this year's annual general meeting, saying they do not reflect what the industry had called for.

In a media statement this morning, CCA said that while the resolutions released by MLA could provide improvements for grassfed beef producers, "they do not deliver on what Cattle Council and grassfed producers were calling for".

The Cattle Council "is pleased to see one extra grassfed beef producer proposed to be added to the selection committee. This is consistent with Cattle Council's policy and with the amount of levies grassfed producers invest in MLA," said CCA president Andrew Ogilvie.

"We are less pleased to see two MLA board members still on the committee, even if they can't vote," he said.

The council called for one MLA Board member on the selection committee.

"This demonstrates how grassfed beef producers are partially disenfranchised by the selection processes used within their service provider. It would appear that, compared to Cattle Council's preferred amendment, the resolutions have been watered down," Mr. Ogilvie said.

"The grassfed beef producers need to come out in force and vote. If they don't, the resolutions won't get up and what is wrong with the current industry structure will be perpetuated," Mr. Ogilvie said.