The Northern Rivers area of New South Wales is primed and ready for one of the biggest events on the calendar, Casino Beef Week, supported by $1 million in Coalition Government funding.
Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud said strong ABARES beef farm financial performance data released today was the cherry on top for the annual celebration.
"Casino Beef Week is one of the biggest events on the calendar for the largest agricultural industry in Australia – it's almost 4 decades in and still going strong," Minister Littleproud said.
"The Northern Rivers region plays a major role in growing both our domestic and international markets and this government is committed to building the national focus of the event.
"ABARES data released this week should add to the celebrations. It shows beef farm income is on the up, projected to be the highest in 20 years at an average $195,000 per farm in 2017-18.
"It is also 85 per cent higher than the average farm cash income for beef farms between 2000-01 and 2016-17. This is great news for our world-class beef farmers, who deserve to see valuable returns for their valuable produce."
Member for Page Kevin Hogan said the event was so important to local beef producers, to promote their high quality products and highlight just how vital beef is to our regional economies.
"More than $10 billion runs through regional cities and towns thanks to the success of the beef and cattle industry. It employs tens of thousands of people from the outback stations in the Kimberly, to regional centres such as Casino," Mr Hogan said.
"This event has been running for 36 years, helped along by government funding, to support the beef industry and the local communities – above all it's just a great day out."
Fast facts
* Beef Week runs over 11 days from 19th May 2018
* The Coalition Government has committed $1 million to support delivery of the annual Casino Beef Week events from 2017 to 2020
* Australia's beef industry is worth over $13 billion to the economy representing almost a quarter of Australia's farm production
* Beef exports were valued at $7.1 billion in 2016-17 and live cattle exports contributed a further $1.2 billion
* The beef industry is one of our major export earners with Australia shipping beef to around 80 countries in 2016-17
* Since 2016, the government has struck trading deals with 65 countries across the globe
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