Meet Ian McColl
Ian McColl ably MCees the Sheep Sustainability Framework Annual Report Launch Event in Bendigo
A founding board member of the Sheep Sustainability Framework (SSF), New South Wales livestock and grain producer Ian McColl joined the SSF Sustainability Steering Group in 2022. Mr McColl brings a wealth of diverse experience from his roles as a director of Sheep Producers Australia and chair of the SPA Sheep Health & Welfare Committee and Lamb Survivability Project, chair of NSW Farmers Biosecurity Committee, and previous roles with the Sheepmeat Council, SAFEMEAT, National Farmers' Federation and Farmers for Climate Action.
You could say Ian McColl has lived experience of sustainability as it applies to agriculture – his family have farmed crops and produced livestock on their 650ha property ‘Hillcrest’ at Koorawatha since the early 1900s.
Mr McColl currently crops around 240ha of wheat and canola on rotation and joins 1200-1500 Merino ewes to Dorset or Border Leicester rams to produce prime lambs on undulating, yellow box country between Cowra and Young.
Despite his family’s longevity, he’s happy to admit there was a recognition 30 years ago that they needed to do more to encourage biodiversity and care for the environment, resulting in a major investment in farm infrastructure.
“At that time, we had less than one per cent remnant vegetation left on Hillcrest. It had all been cleared before my lifetime. So, we put in a lot of shelter belts, re-did the watering system, and reviewed all our fencing, put in laneways, and built a wetland,” Mr McColl said.
“What we found was that good stewardship can boost profitability and benefits everyone. For example, as well as encouraging wildlife, the shelter belts protect shorn sheep and young lambs.”
Mr McColl has strong all-round experience in the sheep industry, through travelling to key overseas markets and being involved in biosecurity, health, and animal welfare roles at home. He’s travelled to the Middle East to follow the live export trade and visited the key lamb and sheepmeat markets of the United States and New Zealand.
He believes Australian producers need to be more aware that they’re part of a whole supply chain, which is only as good as its weakest link.
“We sell a very high-priced, premium product into a wide variety of markets and different cultures, and with that comes a level of responsibility and accountability to provide a product that is fit for purpose and is what the consumer wants. In the past we’ve been happy just to produce a good product and didn’t want to know more,” Mr McColl said.
“But competition from other suppliers of quality product is increasing, and when you see the scale of packaging and marketing in places like the US, we are a small supplier by comparison. To maintain premium prices, we have to maintain the credibility that we’ve built over a long period of time. I’m not sure that a lot of producers quite understand that.”
He's encouraged by the greater investment in partnerships and relationships between meat processors and producers since everyone is accountable for the end product. Direct feedback to producers about their product is integral to the long-term profitability of the industry, Ian said.
“The challenge is that there’s a whole raft of different production systems across Australia in terms of size of operations, climatic conditions, feed sources and availability, so to produce a premium product is a challenge.
“Generally, we do it very well but there’s always room for improvement. In South Australia, for example, processors feed information back to producers if their sheep carcases show signs of 12-14 different diseases, such as worms, jaundice, and live fluke, so they can address those issues.
“The processor gets less wastage and the producer gets paid for quality product. After all, no-one’s getting a free lunch these days. Producers’ costs have risen dramatically but so have costs for livestock transporters and processors, so less wastage and a more premium product means everyone is better off.”
For now, Ian McColl is focused on increasing awareness of the Sheep Sustainability Framework amongst producers and looking forward to defining more clearly where the industry currently sits.
“The Framework is a high-level document that provides direction for the longer term, and for the first time we’re looking to quantify accurately where we are. It’s hard to get information on production systems that’s not just anecdotal. But with new technology like Low Earth Orbiting satellites, we can gain access to information at a level that’s unprecedented,” he said.
“We’ve come a long way in the past two decades but there are always improvements that we can make to ensure the long-term future of the industry.”