This article provides a firsthand explanation of how the live sheep export ban impacts sheep farmers and the wider community. Chrissie Smith and her husband are sheep farmers based in Kojonup and we share this opinion piece that she prepared with her permission.

Yesterday, during a discussion over a Facebook post, I was asked by a friend of a friend if I could clarify the thought process around the live sheep export ban from a sheep farmer's perspective, and if farmers were over dramatising the situation. A very honest question, and one I was very happy to answer.

These are mine and my husband's words and sentiments....

There is a lot to explain, and it isn't as simple as just numbers. Maybe make yourself a cup of tea.

Western Australia's "sheepbelt" has a very different climate from that of our Eastern State counterparts. They also have much better slaughter facilities and can process a much higher number of sheep than we can here in the West. 

Our sheep production year runs from November to November. We start preparing our ewes for mating in November, rams go into the mob in February, we drop our lambs late June & July, and we grow out the lambs through those other months, ready for the market in November. Our green feed season generally runs from May to November. Outside of those months, we rely on dry feed and supplementary feeding. We (my husband and I) opt to sell our lambs straight from mum, where possible, as it is the most profitable. 

Due to WA having long dry summers, we do not get the same green feed window that they do in the Eastern States. A lot of farms over there have irrigation and lucerne and perennial based pastures, which WA is not suited to. They also receive a lot more summer rain. Therefore, it is way more difficult for us to grow out our lambs in a shorter period of time. Hence, we get an influx of sheep ready to be slaughtered all at a similar time. We don't have the facilities to handle large numbers, and if we don't get the kill space with the abattoirs, we risk being stuck with stock that is ready for slaughter but no market. For example, in the springtime flush, NSW, VIC & SA will kill approximately 510,000, and WA kills 93,000 per week. 

You have to understand that the WA processing companies are desperate to get rid of live sheep export. The reason being, is that if Live Export disappears, they have no competition, because there are more sheep than can be processed, which causes a massive over supply, and therefore a direct price reduction for the farmer. This happened in the spring of 2023 when Live Export came to a standstill on the government's announcement. The WA sheep farmer was receiving as little as $35 p/h for mutton and $110 p/h for lambs. 

This is where the live sheep export comes into play. This offers us another market to sell our sheep, and they will offer us a good price for what we call our stores. These are lambs and older sheep and wethers (mutton) who haven't grown out as well as we would like, often due to our seasonal conditions, and for farmers who don't have the capabilities to hold on to the sheep for a longer period of time, mainly due to how much it costs to feed them, and the issue of soil erosion because of being overstocked in the dry conditions.

In the last few years, we have been getting between $5.20 and $7.10 per kg dressed (which means after they have been slaughtered). So for our 365 days of work put in to produce a lamb, we receive $5.20 to $7.10 per kg, we also have to pay to get our sheep delivered to the abattoirs They process the lamb in one day and then deliver to the grocery store, who packs and sells to their customer for $45 per kg. Does this seem fair to the farmer? 

If we need to hold on to our sheep for a longer period, it will cost us between $50 - $60 per sheep to continue to feed, and there is no guaranteed price at the end of that, so with a falling market, the farmer can lose a lot of money. So, with no additional market for the extra sheep (removing live exports), it becomes a very big risk to the sheep farmer, and their business starts to become unviable.

This is where the snowball effect starts to take place. The sheep farmer loses faith. They've lost their only other market to sell their sheep through, they reduce the number of sheep they are producing, which is what is already happening in preparation for the ban. Many farmers opted not to put their rams out with the ewes this season, for fear of being stuck with sheep they can not sell in the future. Now I won't lie, for us, this has helped the lamb per kg price recover. At $5.20 per kg, there is no money in producing a lamb, so for every price rise above that is a huge bonus for us. 

However, because of the reduction in numbers, there is no need for shearing contractors, no need for transport companies to move our sheep from farm to abattoirs or the port, people leave the farming communities, our schools suffer, our medical facilities suffer, and our small businesses suffer. For the regional communities, it becomes death by association. 

I saw recently that Wagin two years ago had eight shearing teams; they are now down to three teams. That is approximately 50 employees, plus their partners and their children who have left the Wagin community in the past 12 months. Another example is three local contractors around our area marked 100,000 less lambs in 2024 compared to 2023. Again, it's about economics; they take a massive hit in revenue, their business profit is reduced, they can't afford employees, and again, more people leave our communities. 

The Labor government, Albo and his constituents, made this decision without any consultation. They chose to take the side of Sydney Green Representatives and members of PETA to buy their votes in the last election. If they can ban an industry in the blink of an eye, which industry is next? If Beef goes, Northern WA and the NT are stuffed. Then it will be pork, chicken, eggs... 

My question to everyone is...go to your fridge, and pull out everything in there that is produced by a farmer, and let me know what you have left. Then, rethink how important farmers are for our country. Farmers are caring and nurturing people, but imagine if they coordinated together to stop providing all produce for 14 days, with nothing leaving the farm gate - what would happen? Lamb, beef, pork, chicken, eggs, milk, butter, yoghurt, ice cream, cheese, cereals, rice, sugar, fruit, vegetables, beer, wine, your cup of tea you just made...and the list goes on.

The impact on farmers and our rural communities is not being over dramatised. I could go on forever about this, and to be honest, if you have read this far, I really appreciate it. Hopefully, this gives you some insight. I really do thank you for asking a very honest question, and hopefully, you can see this as a very honest answer.