B.FUP.2021 - BeefUp Coordination and Delivery 2021-23 Final Report

Summary

BeefUp Forums provide an opportunity for producers, advisors, researchers and other experts to come together to share information and ideas to support the continued growth of beef businesses throughout Queensland, northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory. BeefUp Forums are a Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) initiative, delivered by Associated Advertising & Promotions with the support of Regional Beef Research Committees (RBRC) and diverse industry partners.

Objectives

The overall aim of the BeefUp Forums is to provide a platform for producers to access practical information, tools, and resources that enhance productivity and profitability. The forums also seek to increase awareness of MLA's activities and the relevant programs available to producers to support the adoption of on-farm best practice. Specifically, some of the objectives of this project included:

• Delivery of 17 BeefUp Forums, with a total target > 1500 producers.
• Overall participant satisfaction, value levels and intent to change match or exceed 2018 and 2019 evaluation outcomes. As of December 2018, average satisfaction was measured at 8.7 out of 10 and perceived value was recorded as 8.3 out of 10.
• Increased producer awareness of what MLA does and the relevant RD&A it funds (reinforced by all presentations having a linkage to MLA).
• Producers agree they were exposed to practical information and tools they could use on farm immediately to assist them improve the productivity and profitability of their business.

Key findings

This project delivered the following outcomes:
- Delivery of 17 BeefUp forums, covering all RBRC regions of northern Australia.
- Attendance totalling 1,004 producers and year-on-year growth in attendance.
- Increased awareness of MLA adoption programs, tools, and resources. 81% of attendees stated that they learnt something new by attending a forum.
- 65% of attendees expressed intention to implement on-farm changes after the forums.
- $2.4m in annual benefits* delivered to producers via Beefup in 2022-23 and $1.8m in annual benefits in 2021-22 (*based on the Producer Adoption Outcomes reports).

Benefits to industry

As a result of attending BeefUp forums, producers and industry service providers:
- have access to new research-based information, tools and resources
- increase their knowledge of practices that could increase enterprise productivity, profitability and/or sustainability
- engage directly with other producers, service providers and advisors who can support their business decisions
- get an understanding of the steps and programs to help facilitate on-farm practice change.

MLA action

MLA will continue to invest in forums such as BeefUps that help to raise awareness of R&D, programs and services available locally to producers across Australia.

Future research

Recommendations have been provided for the continued expansion and improvement of BeefUp forums.