Why we love the Darling Downs with Trevor Leishman
Issue #2: With great infrastructure, comes great opportunity! It’s an exciting time for local producers: With Toowoomba’s Wellcamp Airport expanding into export operations, farmers on the Darling downs will literally have the world at their fingertips – if they’re willing to jump through a couple of bureaucratic hoops first, that is. For livestock producers, jumping on the export bandwagon means becoming EUCAS accredited. However, Becoming EUCAS accredited comes with a long list of requirements.
At first glance, it appears to be quite limiting – but the voluntary scheme is growing in popularity, with some 1183 Farms, 33 feedlots and 13 Saleyards in Queensland currently participating. So how does a EUCAS accreditation affect property value? In January 2018, Queensland farmers exported 5158 tonnes of beef and veal to the EU. It’s in no way our biggest market: greater quantities of beef and veal are exported to Asia, the US and Canada each month, with Japan consistently topping the list (107257 tonnes last month, in fact!) But the EU market is growing, and while becoming EUCAS accredited does require
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Why we love the Darling Downs with Trevor Leishman
producers to make some modifications and undergo regular audits, the export opportunities that are opened up are well worth it – as is the increase in property value that comes along with it. There are always going to be individual circumstances that factor into a business decision, especially in farming. Especially when it requires significant operational changes, affecting everything from agistment to the use of saleyards. At this level, choosing whether or not to participate in schemes like EUCAS can be a complex process. But when considering the impact on property value, it suddenly becomes much simpler - because with opportunity, comes appeal. Anything that allows a business to successfully expand into the international market is going to increase its value, making these
EUCAS accredited properties more attractive to buyers, and more valuable to sellers. For our local region, the numbers stack up: in the Darling and Western downs, only 103 farms are EUCAS accredited. Our region is home to two of the state’s saleyards, with the Dalby saleyards becoming the most recent facility to gain accreditation; and 11 of Queensland’s 33 feedlots belong to us. With export operations now available out of Wellcamp Airport, and a rapidly evolving international market that has not yet been saturated with Australian product within reach, it really is an exciting time for Local producers. Just another reason to love the Darling Downs! Trevor Leishman 0427 598 106 I Trevor.Leishman@elders.com.au
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