Sustainability in the Western Australian cattle industry: implications for Malaysia

Beef plays an important role in the Malaysian diet. However, Malaysia currently has a low self-sufficiency ratio for red meat, with imports of frozen Indian buffalo meat accounting for almost 80 percent of the market. Australia is the second largest beef supplier to Malaysia, with a market share of approximately 12 percent. Most Australian imports are utilised by the modern retail chains and middle to upper tier foodservice suppliers, where Australian beef is the meat of choice for most middle to high-income families. However, beef production in Western Australia faces numerous political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental challenges. This paper discusses the various constraints and outlines some of the actions that Western Australian beef producers are undertaking to meet community expectations and thereby assure the supply of both live cattle and chilled beef to consumers in Malaysia.