Opinion: Cattle Australia says the grass-fed cattle levy will not rise without ensured accountability

WA cattle levy payers told us they wanted to see value for their dollars. So did the more than 1000 levy payers who spoke to the independent review committee, including at meetings in Bunbury and Perth.

The message was clear: show us the value first.

The proposal Cattle Australia has put forward for grass-fed levy payers to vote in does exactly that.

The $5 levy has not changed in 20 years, and it has not been comprehensively reviewed since 2009.

It’s producers’ own money, not a government tax. It is collected so everyone who benefits contributes, and it is invested back into the industry.

Nothing changes unless levy payers vote for it.

Accountability comes first.

Every levy-funded program must justify and publicly report its value before July 2027.

Restoring the levy’s lost value would take it to about $8.68, but the committee rejected that because the benefit to levy payers wasn’t clear.

Instead, it recommended a $1 step to $6 per transaction by 1 July 2028, and only if the reforms are delivered in full by 1 July 2027.

No reforms, no increase.

Levy payers set the priorities, and that is what the extra $1 would fund: residue testing, biosecurity, independent integrity systems, and a stronger voice for industry.

Volunteer cattle producers and a small Cattle Australia team carry more than 50 industry committee roles on behalf of the entire national grass-fed industry.

That’s not enough to be heard in every region, including across WA. This proposal changes that.

Activist groups are running well-funded national campaigns against grass-fed producers.

They publish satellite “citizen science” maps of so-called illegal clearing with no peer review or ground-truthing, and make environmental claims about our industry without consulting it.

Cattle Australia has pushed back on both with the record, and will keep doing so. These campaigns don’t stop at State borders.

They target the supermarkets and supply chains that buy cattle from the Kimberley, the Pilbara and the South West, and they shape how the community sees every producer.

For WA pastoralists, managing millions of hectares under pastoral leases, unchecked satellite claims are a direct threat to market access, not a distant argument.

Some say representation should be paid for by membership fees.

But every producer benefits when the industry defends its market access and reputation, including those who never join anything.

That is exactly what an industry levy is for.

Representation also means capability: trained producers on committees, extension that reaches people on their properties, and telling the community how grass-fed beef is actually produced.

The proposal sets aside a minimum of 60¢ per transaction for this, with open reporting on every dollar.

A vote to support is a vote for change.

Every grass-fed levy payer gets a vote, and you don’t need to be a Meat and Livestock Australia member.

Ballots close at 3.30pm WA time on Sunday, November 22.

Activists have the money to tell our story for us. Producers deserve the means to tell it themselves.

Voting packs were sent in October via email or post.

MLA encourages those who have not received a pack to reach out via phone on 1800 023 100 or email at membership@mla.com.au.

For more information, visit the CA website.

Will Evans is the chief executive of Cattle Australia.