CEO Message – 15 May 2020

The challenges and opportunities of COVID-19 continue to dominate the business outlook for Australia’s pork producers.

This week’s stabilising pig indicator prices and signals of easing grain prices are particularly welcome given the mounting pressure on farmgate profitability in recent weeks.

As confirmed during this week’s APL Board and Delegates meetings, our team remains steadfast in our focus to ensure Australian pork emerges strongly over the coming months across all marketplaces.

The staggered resumption of foodservices across Australia this week is a key step in repairing some of the significant disruption to our supply chains, albeit trading will resume at much lower volumes.

In the meantime, APL is working effectively across the supply chain to support retail sales, grow export volumes and encourage the use of Australian-grown pork in locally manufactured smallgoods.

APL’s highest priority is to support producers, including their personal wellbeing, knowing that each farm business is uniquely positioned to respond to COVID-19 disruptions. With this in mind,  producers should note the Federal Government has amended the criteria for determining a 30 per cent drop in turnover to enable farm businesses impacted COVID-19 to make a JobKeeper claim. Further details are available on the ATO website.

We are grateful for the positive feedback and ongoing support of producers, as well as the ongoing cooperation of government and our broader supply chain partners. Together, we are leading our industry through these unprecedented times.

– Margo Andrae, APL CEO