THE “fractured” Northern Territory buffalo industry needs to work as a cohesive unit if it is to realise its full potential, according to NT Primary Industry and Fisheries Minister Willem Westra van Holthe.
About 40 industry representatives attended a closed forum in Katherine recently to discuss what role buffalo would play in the future makeup of the Territory’s agricultural landscape.
Last year, about 5000 head were exported to Vietnam, but Mr Westra van Holthe said the country had signalled an interest to receive more than double that amount in coming years.
“Vietnam have indicated they want 1000 head a month; that was indicated to us probably a year-and-a-half ago,”?he said.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the industry, along with the exporters, to be able to provide that.”
Mr Westra van Holthe said getting pastoralists, catchers and industry representatives around the table was the first step in giving buffalo a reboot in the Territory.
“The buffalo industry over many years has been up and down, to say the least, and probably fractured at many times throughout its history.
“The idea of this meeting was to try and reconvene and get the buffalo industry back in a room together, get them talking and get them on the same page and heading in the right direction.
“If we have an industry that is divided and not working together, then we run the risk of not being able to supply buffalo into Asian markets in a really big, sustainable way.
“I think over many years, there have been personality clashes, differences of opinion; there’s certainly a divide between the catchers and the farmers, so there’s a whole range of issues in there I think the buffalo industry have encountered over many, many years now, but it’s time to get them back together.”
While Darwin would be the likely export hub for a reinvigorated buffalo industry, the Primary Industry and Fisheries Minister indicated alternative locations, including the Gove Peninsula, would be considered if viable.
“Look, I think the economics will ultimately decide where buffalo are exported from,” Mr Westra van Holthe said.
“Obviously, Darwin port is a good port; it’s successful and we’re exporting, last year, about 5000 head.
“If there’s an opportunity to export out of other ports, then we’ll examine that as well.
“The government has been doing a lot of work in Nhulunbuy to bolster the town’s economy after the closure of the [Rio Tinto] refinery; maybe there’s an opportunity there.”
He admitted there were a “whole bunch of limiting factors” that would influence the eventual success of the buffalo industry, but said he believed farming animals, as opposed to catching them, was the way forward.
“In my view, there has to be a move towards a degree of farming and getting buffalo behind wire.
“That’s where you have in-house breeding programs or you’re catching young animals and putting them behind wire and growing them to the right size.”
