Take the Diamantina shire and transpose it onto Mongolia and you’ll find lots of similarities in the way each land-locked realm has addressed its road and communications challenges, and in the qualities of the landscape.
It was a similarity that struck OBE Organic’s general manager, Dalene Wray, when she visited the country recently at the invitation of The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Along with OBE’s livestock manager, Ross McKenzie, they had a brief to look at the country’s livestock supply chain and offer insights.
“They wanted an organisation with similar challenges to themselves, and who’d done it before,” Dalene said.
“OBE developed a supply chain that’s now global, from a very remote area, and turned what was a negative 25 years ago into a positive, overcoming the barriers of distance and communications.
“They wanted to empower their herder cooperatives.”
The whirlwind trip saw them visit meat processing facilities, a horse abattoir, and fly to the Khovd province in western Mongolia to speak with representatives from a herder cooperative, before making 12 observations and a series of recommendations to the UNFAO.
“You might think of the country as an emerging economy but they’ve got lots of things you need, such as an international airport, good roads, good communication systems, and good record-keeping,” Dalene said. “They’ve got good bones.”
While being land-locked and facing disease challenges, they had a deep desire to participate in the global market.
Animals under consideration included sheep, cattle, goats, yaks and horses, and a variety of breeds within those, which they are already exporting to a number of countries.
One of the suggestions made by OBE Organic was to consider the stage their genetics were at and work on competing in a different organic market to the one Australia and New Zealand was in.
Dalene said they were also able to work with them on the issue of collective land use and having animals with different organic certification levels in the same area, due to the lack of fencing.
Ross’s knowledge as an accredited organic auditor was valued by the audience as well, who wanted to know how their own people could obtain similar qualifications.
Dalene said a delegation to Australia had been recommended, to explore systems in this country more fully.
“From our point of view it was exciting to be asked to contribute, and nice to be acknowledged as having that experience,” she said. “We believe there are more countries like Mongolia that could benefit as well.”
Helping other countries to a more advanced level of organic certification would have a favourable impact on Australian operators in a number of ways, according to Dalene.
As well as helping Australian scientists, vets and producers to recognise some of the disease challenges they’re unfamiliar with in Australia, she believed collaboration would help build worldwide trust in organic produce as more practitioners underwent certification.
“Helping other countries reach our level, rather than leaving them to work it out for themselves, will have a good impact on us,” she said.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
