June 30, 2010

With Indonesia's import restrictions now seriously affecting the Kimberley beef industry in Australia, many pastoralists have started to actively pursue alternative markets.

Jack Burton runs the Yeeda Pastoral Company and he's planning to develop his own abattoir on Kilto station, east of Broome.

He says an abattoir development is something that he's considered for a number of years, and the troubles with the Indonesian market have provided the motivation to get the project underway.

"We've been toying with the idea for quite a while. We just decided that in light of this turmoil in the Indonesian market with our live export, I think we've really seriously got to look at some options of getting some beef in boxes or getting some value-adding going on," Burton says.

Mr Burton says the plan is to develop a small abattoir operation that can process 5000 to 6000 head of cattle a year.