UNE Business School, University of New England Seminar

Date

Time

11:00am - 12:00pm AEST

Venue

In person: W40 LT2 and Online via Zoom

Speakers

Professor Garry Griffith

Description

UNE Business School, University of New England

Seminar Title: “Meat Standards Australia: A Retrospective on 25 Years of Aggregate Gross Economic Benefits”

Abstract

Australia is recognised globally as a leader in the beef cattle industry, developing innovations in production and processing systems and in both domestic and export markets which have benefitted all beef value chain participants. One of the key reasons for its global recognition has been the design, implementation and ongoing improvement of the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) quality assurance scheme. MSA was first trialled in 1998 and celebrated 25 years since commencement in 2023. In this seminar the history of the development and implementation of MSA is reviewed, including its alignment with the theoretical principles of the economics of grading and the way in which the initial model has been modified over time.  Then, publicly available data is used to estimate the aggregate gross economic benefits to the industry from its implementation, and these benefits are compared with estimates of the costs incurred in researching, developing and operating the MSA beef grading model. The analysis shows that cattle producers, beef processors and beef consumers have all been beneficiaries of the program through the price premiums available for MSA graded beef and cattle. Measured at the retail level, annual gross benefits have risen substantially to over $400 million in the three years to 2022-23. The cumulative value to 2022-23 is estimated to be $3,125 million. These annual gross benefits are eventually distributed to producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers in relation to the relative slopes of the demand and supply curves at all the various market transaction levels, as the market adjusts over time to the new level of domestic consumer willingness-to-pay for guaranteed tenderness. At the farm level in the last four years aggregate returns as measured by over-the-hook premiums have averaged around $200 million per year. The cumulative value to 2022-23 is estimated to be just under $2,200 million. Over the whole period since implementation, producers have received about 70 per cent of the total available willingness to pay. Impact assessment studies have shown that all past R&D expenditure in MSA has been covered, all industry adoption costs have been covered, all annual operating expenses have been covered, and on top of that, a substantial additional benefit has been generated for the Australian beef cattle industry.

The Presenter

Garry Griffith is Adjunct Professor at UNE Business School. He was a research economist with the NSW Government for 38 years, retiring as Principal Research Scientist in 2011. Garry also led the Economics programs in the Beef and Sheep Cooperative Research Centres. He studied at the University of New England, at Macquarie University and at the University of Guelph in Canada. His major research interests are in the application of economic models of Australian agricultural industries to predict the impacts of changes in production technologies, advertising programs, and government policies; the links between the competitive structure of markets and the distribution of the benefits from effective technological change; and price formation processes in food and fibre markets and in the changing nature of the relationships between farm and retail prices. Professor Griffith currently holds a part-time research position in the School of Agricultural, Food and Ecosystems Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He also holds an honorary position at the University of Adelaide and is the managing Editor of the three Australasian agribusiness journals. He currently has research projects funded by ACIAR, MLA and AMPC, and Dairy Australia.

Light refreshments will be offered to those attending this event in person.

This event is for AARES members and non-members.

To join online, click Zoom link here (Password: 633341)