Reimagining Agriculture
AACo is the largest integrated beef producer in Australia. By virtue of our size and integrated supply chain we are uniquely placed to realise the opportunity to meet increasing consumer demand for sustainably produced food from finite resources. Our history and the craft that we have shaped over nearly 200 years remains the foundation of what we do while we look to the future of agriculture, carefully shaping and embracing the opportunities this will bring. We are actively exploring where there is potential within our land holdings for products and services beyond food including fibre, energy, natural capital and more.
Themes
We are aligning our activities to lead in the transition to future food systems at scale, meeting consumer demand for sustainably produced food from finite resources. Over time it means building out our product line to grow with these changing needs, diversifying into products naturally suited to our land, accelerating the adoption of new and disruptive technologies and continuing to optimise production systems for efficient use of resources.
As land custodians, we are thinking big about pathways to realising the full potential of our assets and capabilities to play our part in a sustainable future. It means looking at our landscapes through a different lens of possibility, focused on land use for its highest potential. We are building land use strategies that will extend our reach beyond food into other products and services, responding to the needs of a rapidly changing world.
Looking to the Future
By 2024 we will develop a case study at Headingly Station for transitioning to natural capital as a significant land use activity integrated with sustainable livestock production in northern Australia.
Healthy, happy and well cared for cattle, are integral to the sustainability of our operations and we are committed to a continued pursuit of best-in-class animal health and welfare practices. Providing care to our animals is part of who we are and our expertise in animal handling is something our people are immensely proud of.
We understand the importance of taking a more holistic approach to our animal’s wellbeing and have adopted the Five Domains approach to animal wellbeing, focusing on good nutrition, a healthy environment, sound physical health and positive behaviour, all leading to a positive mental state.
Our Commitment
We will pursue our commitment to the Five Domains of Animal Wellbeing by working with key industry partners to develop an internationally recognised AHW certification standard for extensive beef production by 2024. This certification standard will provide a structure to drive innovation and improvement in the already high AHW standards and practices of our industry in northern Australia.
Looking to the Future
We will drive improvement in calf wellbeing in northern Australia through defining an industry adoption pathway that applies the learnings gained from the “Cool Calves” research project.
We will continue our breeding program to introduce the poll gene into our herd, to eliminate the painful intervention of dehorning. Our breeding and genetics team started working to build this trait into our herd more than 5 years ago. We’ve hit the target of approximately 25% of our entire herd carrying the poll gene and are working towards our target of having all our Mitchell bulls born in FY22 carrying the poll gene.