Cape Grim sustainable development framework

Summary

Consumers worldwide are placing increasing importance on the sustainability credentials of companies and industries who provide the products and services that they consume.

The aim of this project was to develop a sustainability framework for Greenham Cape Grim Beef, based on the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF). Greenham Cape Grim Beef has a paddock-to-plate business model, producing, processing and marketing premium grassfed beef products.

The Greenham Cape Grim Beef Framework involved the development of key indicators and performance measures across the priority areas of people, economy and environment. Animal welfare was already covered by existing Greenham Tasmania programs, and therefore excluded from the project scope. It is envisaged that the Greenham Cape Grim Beef Framework will be used to guide and track performance through the value chain to inform business and consumer decision making that promotes sustainable development in the Australian red meat industry.

Objectives

The objectives of this project were to:

• develop a framework to guide the sustainable development of the Greenham Cape Grim Beef value chain
• provide recommendations for further research, development and adoption activities required for future expansion and implementation of the ABSF.

Key findings

• Greenham developed a sustainability framework for its Cape Grim Beef value chain, which has provided a means to inform business and consumer decision making that promotes sustainable development.
• The results from the economic impact assessment indicate that the net present value of a sustainability framework over 10 years is estimated to be $2 million at a discount rate of 7%. The annualised benefit over a ten-year period is 19% and the cost benefit ratio is 15.6 to 1.
• This project has created the opportunity for the Cape Grim Beef value chain to be recognised for their current management practices that contribute to sustainability in animal welfare, economic, environment and community (people).

Benefits to industry

This project was instigated by Greenham Tasmania to respond to customer demands, however it has broader implications for the Australian beef industry. The development of a value chain sustainability framework will provide an opportunity for producers to communicate what industry is doing well and areas for improvement, backed up by rigorous data and information. This will provide an opportunity to educate consumers about the sustainability credentials of southern beef production systems.

MLA action

This project has provided the first information on the applicability of ABSF at a value chain level, as opposed to the industry level that the ABSF was designed for. Observations from this process can be fed back to the ABSF sustainability steering group to inform evolution of the ABSF over time.

Future research

A key recommendation from the project was to address the need for improved tools that enable measurement and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration as part of the sustainability framework. An improved tool or process that can provide the complete picture is needed to provide a true depiction of the on-farm carbon story to customers and to educate producers about their farm carbon footprint.