Livestock industries’ future – value or volume?

Hosted by New Zealand’s AgResearch and Australia’s CSIRO Livestock Industries (CLI), this year’s Conference will provide some of the world’s leading agri-business leaders and scientists with an opportunity to examine the commercial future for high-value food and fibre farm products.

Discussions will cover: the current drivers of change in animal agriculture, cutting edge science for the future, and the responses of the dairy, meat and fibre sectors to recent major shifts in market demand and policy directions.

CLI Chief, Dr Alan Bell, says Horizons in Livestock Sciences 2008 will focus on the debate about on-farm value adding.

“Both Australia’s and New Zealand’s livestock industries are experiencing a period of great change,” Dr Bell says. “The Conference provides an ideal opportunity for some of the world’s leading experts in a variety of related industry fields to debate important questions like: ‘Should our countries focus on producing more milk or higher value milk; more meat or higher value meat; and likewise for wool?  Or do we focus on volume and value simultaneously?’

“As scientific research agencies, we believe there is a promising commercial future for Australasian farmers to grow ‘high-value’ food and fibre products.  For example we envisage a future where some dairy farmers will produce milk for highly valuable neutraceutical products designed to enhance human health.”

However, Dr Bell says, CLI and AgResearch are well aware that this optimistic view is not necessarily shared by everyone in the industry.

“This Conference will give scientists, industry and farm leaders, and policy makers, an opportunity to examine and debate the scientific possibilities and market forces that will shape research and industry approaches to future animal agriculture,” Dr Bell says.

Keynote speakers include Hong Kong-based Dr Clint Laurent, Founder and Managing Director of Global Demographics – a privately-owned company which forecasts the changing nature of populations, labour forces, households and their income and expenditure. Dr Laurent will discuss the consumer demands that are currently driving agriculture in an address entitled: “The changing consumer markets for animal protein”.

The co-author of the highly popular CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet books, CSIRO’s Dr Manny Noakes, will also talk about current consumer drivers in her address; “The role of animal source foods in the development of ‘healthy’ dietary recommendations”.

The three-day conference – the fifth in the highly successful Horizons in Livestock Sciences series – is the first to be held outside Australia.

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