Government support will be made available if needed for JBS employees affected by shut down: Rockliff

JBS Swift announced on Wednesday 112 of its staff at the Longford plant would be temporarily stood down because of a lack of suitable livestock to process.

“In that time if there is retraining or whatever is required we will make it available...the company has not yet reached out for assistance,” Mr Rockliff said.

Unprecedented weather conditions not experienced by farmers in Tasmania for decades has contributed to the temporary shut down of the abattoir.

It’s believed the shut down is the result of JBS shutting down the production line for lamb, which is run as a side stream to the beef and dairy cattle processing lines.

“We have had a record dry winter and spring, drought in summer, floods, it has been an extraordinary set of circumstances not experienced by farmers in decades,” Mr Rockliff said.

The drought had caused a lot of farmers to de-stock and sell any excess animals due to a lack of feed and fodder available. In addition some beef and lamb farmers have lost stock due to the recent flash flooding.

Mr Rockliff said it was not surprising considering the recent weather conditions that there was a livestock shortage affecting Tasmania but said any “correction back to normality” would take time.

“Farmers need time to breed up and buy into high-priced markets, it might take some time, we might see the effects of this over the course of 12 months,” he said.

Mr Rockliff said he had been in contact with the JBS Swift and had been reassured all affected employees would retain their jobs over the six-to-eight week period.

It is unknown if the shut down will extend to JBS’s other processing facility at Devonport or other abattoir facilities such as Greenhams.

“TQM [Tasmanian Quality Meats] and Greenhams are feeling the effects of a shortage of livestock so we will need to maintain strong contact with all abattoirs across the state,” Mr Rockliff said.

Confusion still surrounds the time frame of the shut down with Meat Workers Union Troy Baker saying it could be longer for stock levels to come back to a more normal figure.

“It’s impossible to pick these things, when the stock will come back but the company indicated to me in our original talks that it could be eight to 12 weeks, I’m not sure if something has happened to make them revise that,” he said.

Mr Baker said there had been “allusions” last Thursday week that the company was going to announce the shut down but staff had not known until Tuesday the details of what was going to happen.

“There was a lot of uncertainty through the whole process, the staff didn’t know who would be going, they were unsure who would be affected,” he said.

Centrelink and the state government’s revised skill unit has been in contact with the employees and the company respectively to assist during the shut down period for affected workers.

JBS Australia has been contacted for comment.

Shadow Primary Industries Minister Rebecca White said it was a “devastating blow” for the workers and their families.

“Even the temporary loss of employment puts enormous pressure on someone. I hope the abattoir can return to full production as soon as possible,” she said.

“I thank JBS for its willingness to engage and keep the lines of communication open. It’s so important that workers have a clear picture of the situation.”

Ms White called on the government to do everything it could to assist the workers affected by the temporary shut down.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president and Meander farmer Wayne Johnston said national shut downs of abattoirs was happening across the country, due to multiple drought conditions across the east coast of Australia.

“In Tasmania a lot of producers have de-stocked or shipped cattle to the mainland so we’re experiencing a lack of suitable livestock,” he said.

Mr Johnston said it was too hard to say what the recovery would be from the livestock shortage, but said if indicators for the next two seasons were correct it could go some way to improving herd sizes.

“If we have a good spring, we’d be looking for lots of feed growth, and a good summer it could help a lot,” he said.

“Things like this don’t happen that often, so it’s uncertain how long it would take to rebuild, it would depend on individual farmers and their finances.”

Mr Johnston said it was important to note this was a national issue and not one restricted to Tasmania and said it was likely to impact other abattoirs across the state.

However he said there was an opportunity for JBS, if they wanted to take advantage of it.

“It gives them a chance to do some maintenance at the same time,” he said.

Recent flash flooding would have also had an impact, although somewhat of a smaller impact, he said.

The shortage of livestock has also contributed to the high beef carcase prices, with the Eastern Young Cattle Index (EYCI) sitting at 716.50 cents per kilogram.

The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) is the general benchmark of national cattle prices. The indicator is a seven-day rolling average produced daily by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).