Beaufort River Meats closure on back of $3.33m grant award sends economic shockwave through Great Southern

The announcement of the sudden closure of Beaufort River Meats’ processing plant has drawn criticism over the State and Federal governments’ timeliness in the distribution of live sheep export phase-out grants. The processing plant, located in the Great Southern, announced on Wednesday that it would be temporarily closing due to “continued supply constraints” that have led to a significantly reduced processing volume. It came the same day it was announced the company would be receiving $3.33 million of Government funding in support of expansions and upgrades ahead of the May 2028 live sheep export ban. Ausvision Meat Processors trades as Beaufort River Meats with general manager Kel Whitehouse on Wednesday saying the firm’s other trading businesses remained fully operational and “continue to service their customers without interruption”. “Planned upgrade works and the Beaufort facility will also continue to progress during this period,” she said. “Where possible staff will be redeployed to other group facilities within the region, with a number of employees electing to take redundancy packages. “Management will continue to closely monitor livestock supply conditions and will review operations as market conditions improve.” Roe MLA Peter Rundle said the closure of Beaufort River Meats’ processing facility was indicative of the effect the live sheep export ban was having on the State’s regional communities. “This is not just about a single facility. This is about families, contractors, truck drivers, shearers, feed suppliers, local shops and entire towns,” he said. “Beaufort River supported hundreds of indirect jobs across the Great Southern and Wheatbelt.” Mr Rundle said the alternative pathway of processing for producers was disappearing, sending “economic shock” across the region. “The reality is farmers are being told to trust a plan, while the infrastructure needed to make that plan work is vanishing,” he said. An independent Nous Group report, commissioned by the Macdoch Foundation, found WA producers are not alone — with access to abattoirs across the country shrinking at an accelerating rate. Nous Group principle Carlos Blanco said small and medium livestock producers across the country were facing a loss of access to abattoirs — a reality that has become the “norm” in many regions. “Two thirds of producers say their processor does not meet their needs, nearly half of producers say they are not confident in maintaining future processing access, with over 66 per cent saying they would have no viable alternative if their current processor closed,” he said. “From the outside, the meat supply chain looks incredibly strong. “However, the system is so focused on scale and efficiency that local processing options are disappearing, and once they’re gone, they’re very hard to bring back.” WA shadow agriculture minister Lachlan Hunter said the timing of Wednesday’s grant announcement demonstrated a deep disconnect between the Government and producers. “Yesterday, Labor governments stood up and announced grants supposedly to strengthen the sheep supply chain,” he said. “Today a real piece of that supply chain has temporarily shut its doors. “You cannot talk about transition and support while regional processors are closing and regional families are losing their jobs.” Without processing capacity, farmers are unable to sell their stock locally — forcing further travel distance to access other processors, increasing costs for producers. “Across Australia, industry groups have already warned abattoir closures are stripping farmers of essential processing access and threatening the viability of livestock production and regional communities,” Mr Hunter said. ”You cannot shut down live export, delay support, and then be surprised when processors collapse. “Regional communities warned this would happen.” WAFarmers chief executive Trevor Whittington said the closure of Beaufort River Meats and the decline of WA’s sheep flock was “structural shrinkage happening in real time”. “Where WA once had a modest but functional spread of sheep abattoir capacity, the system is now visibly thinner,” he said. “When you deliberately tighten supply in a high fixed-cost industry, the outcome is not mysterious. “Lamb gets dearer. Sunday roasts do not get cheaper when the flock shrinks as export markets are closed.” WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis was contacted for comment.