Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Western Australia Livestock Research Council (WALRC) will launch the SMARTBEEF Project to support beef producers with strategies and real-world applications.
Five producer groups from WA, each made up of 10 producers, will have the opportunity to improve their productivity and profitability through peer collaboration, data-driven decision making, and practical on-farm improvements.
All participants will receive access to myFARMSMART – a farm management and analysis software. Producers will be able to use live on-farm data to gain actionable insights.
“Producers will load their farm data into myFARMSMART and be able to identify inefficiencies and generate scenarios to find the best solutions, like what happens if prices change or if their feed costs change?” added Anderton.
WA’s southern beef herd faces ongoing challenges due to climate conditions and fluctuating market dynamics. Project team leader Lucy Anderton emphasises the project’s proactive approach to guiding producers towards success.
“This project isn’t about sitting in a room listening to presentations,” said Anderton.
“It’s about producers working together, learning from each other and using practical tools to drive success.”
The three core pillars of the project are:
- Analysing financials to understand the current beef business performance.
- Improve productivity while maintaining cost of production.
- Understanding Western Australia’s (WA) current beef market and how meeting market specifications can improve the bottom line.
Targeting southern WA beef producers, the first producer intake will run for 18 months, from April 2025 to September 2026.