FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10 June 2015

Australia’s oldest organic beef marketing company, OBE Organic, has announced it is partnering with Grazing BMP to deliver what is thought to be the world’s first best management practices program for organic beef producers.

The program commences with an OBE Organic Grazing Best Management Practice forum at Roma on Friday 21 August 2015, free for organic producers and conventional producers considering converting to organic.

OBE Organic Grazing Best Management Practices will deliver Forums every six months to help organic beef producers continually improve their operations, and in between Forums producers will have tailored action plans to improve their on-farm operations at their own pace – if they wish.

The program is entirely voluntary, but OBE Organic General Manager Dalene Wray said OBE Organic Grazing Best Management Practices is part of the company’s efforts to help good organic beef producers be even better.

“We work really hard to help committed organic beef producers flourish,” Ms Wray said.

“Beef producers need to be great managers of all aspects of their business, and OBE Organic Grazing Best Management Practices lets them do that in a smart and targeted way.

“Organic producers are already meeting many elements of OBE Organic Grazing Best Management Practices, but it complements what they are already doing by pinpointing other areas of their business they can improve.

“With demand for OBE Organic beef far outstripping supply we desperately need more quality organic producers, and we think our current and new producers will see that organic beef premiums plus targeted best practice management skills will make them even better and more profitable,” Ms Wray said.

Grazing BMP is a government and industry-funded voluntary online self-assessment and planning tool.

It benchmarks graziers’ current grazing and business practices against an industry-developed set of standards, compares their performance to peers, and automatically creates individualized action plans for improvement in areas that are below industry average.

While about 1,200 graziers have participated in Grazing BMP since it was developed in 2009, OBE Organic is the program’s first corporate partner.

“Grazing BMP is excited to welcome OBE to the Grazing BMP program as the first corporate partner,” said Grazing BMP Industry Coordinator Michael Taylor.

“This partnership with OBE Organic, already a market leader in in its field, recognises that the Grazing BMP program delivers enhanced productivity to graziers, underpins environmental and ethical performance, and supports an excellent market opportunity.

“This partnership is an exciting opportunity to build a world class demonstration of the industry’s performance and sets OBE Organic at the forefront of its market yet again. Agforce and its Grazing BMP partners look forward to a long and exciting relationship with OBE Organic,” he said.

The first OBE Organic Grazing Best Management Practice forum will be held at Roma on Friday 21 August 2015 to introduce producers to the program and self-assess the areas of their business that can be improved. The day-long Forums will also include OBE Organic and other guest speakers to keep producers informed on the latest organic beef production news and trends.

If well received by producers, follow-up forums will be held every six months to review progress and provide training in identified areas of need.

The Forums are free for all organic producers to attend, and conventional producers in conversion to organic or considering converting to organic beef production.

More information on OBE Organic Best Management Practices is available at:

For more information, please contact:
Dalene Wray
General Manager, OBE Organic
0439 224 968
dwray@obeorganic.net

About OBE Organic
OBE Organic is Australia’s oldest organic beef marketing company, established in 1998 by a group of family farmers in Australia’s Channel Country. It is still family-farmer-owned, and now sources beef from throughout southwest Queensland, northwest NSW, and northern South Australia. OBE Organic helps committed organic beef producers flourish by providing consistently high organic premiums, a strong focus on improving producer’s profitability and innovation, and support for producers to convert to organic. OBE Organic’s safe and nutritious organic grassfed beef is sold to rapidly growing markets in Australia, Asia, North America and the Middle East.
Web www.obeorganic.net – Twitter @obeorganic – Instagram @obeorganic – Facebook facebook.com/obeorganic

About Grazing BMP
Grazing BMP is a government and industry-funded voluntary online self-assessment and planning tool. It benchmarks graziers’ current grazing and business practices against an industry-developed set of standards, compares their performance to peers, and automatically creates action plans for improvement in areas that are below industry average. For more information visit www.bmpgrazing.com.au.

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