Cattle Australia releases deforestation definitions to protect Aussie beef farmers

Key definitions linked to deforestation have been given an Australian context, but some argue it could be seen as greenwashing.

A global push for deforestation-free products has led the peak industry body for cattle producers to come up with a playbook of key definitions for farmers so they don’t fall foul of new regulations coming into force later this year.

In what it has called a “land management commitment”, Cattle Australia has released a set of industry definitions for what constitutes agricultural land, forest and deforestation to ensure Australian farmers aren’t forced to adhere to overseas regulations that don’t reflect “the unique Australian context”.

Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker says Australian definitions enable farmers to demonstrate the Australian regional context.

The peak body for grass-fed cattle producers is pushing to ensure land used for farming purposes is recognised as agricultural land, and not forest, protecting the rights of farmers to determine its use so long as they adhere to Australia’s biosecurity and nature laws.

“Agricultural land is defined as land used for the production of food and fibre, including the grazing of livestock … Forest does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural use in line with international definitions,” the document says.

“In a modern global context where Australia is a key player in the global beef trade, exporting over $10 billion annually, the alignment of Australian definitions with global definitions to ensure equivalency is crucial,” Cattle Australia chief executive Chris Parker said.

Cattle Australia’s Land Management Commitment definitions:

– Agricultural land is defined and demonstrated under the National Australian Land Use Management Classification (ALUM) system.

– Forest means an area, that is dominated by trees having a stand height exceeding 2 metres and crown cover or 20% or more, excluding land that is predominantly under agricultural use including the grazing of livestock.

– Deforestation is the illegal clearing of trees on land, used for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes, that violates vegetation management laws and where trees exceed forest thresholds.

The LMC has been a strategic project that Cattle Australia has rushed to finalise so Australian beef farmers aren’t locked out of Europe when the European Union Deforestation Regulation comes into effect later this year, banning any imported product linked to deforestation.

Unlike Europe, where farming largely occurs on land that has been cleared thousands of years ago, Australian cattle are often grazed “in the bush” among trees on agricultural property.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has been quick to criticise CA’s definitions, saying they risk Australian beef producers being accused of greenwashing.

“Deforestation is the removal of a natural forest. All credible frameworks, like the Accountability Framework and Science-based Targets, agree that is deforestation, regardless of whether the removal of the forest was legal or whether or not it is on agricultural properties,” ACF business and biodiversity lead Nathaniel Pelle said.

Raff Ciccone is pushing for Europe to delay implementation of new rules around imported products impacting beef producers.

But in an unusual show of bipartisanship, a motion backed by Labor Senator Raff Ciccone and Nationals Senator Matt Canavan and tabled last week requesting the federal government urge the EU to delay the implementation of the EUDR shows a set of localised definitions of key terms linked to deforestation have bipartisan support.