The 2009 Meat & Livestock Australia annual general meeting was held in Darwin on 19 November. MLA members voted to maintain the cattle transaction levy at its current rate of $5 per head with a convincing 72.5% of votes cast in favour of the resolution.

MLA Chairman, Don Heatley, also announced MLA’s commitment to opening an office in Jakarta by the end of the year, in recognition of the strong and growing trade of Australian cattle and beef with Indonesia. In the Managing Director’s address, David Palmer announced that the Meat Standards Australia program would grade a record number of cattle in 2009.

Find out more about the AGM and listen to audio from the Chairman and Managing Director

New beef 'Steak' campaign
The latest MLA beef marketing campaign tells consumers how great a BBQ steak can be and aims to build confidence in purchasing and cooking different cuts.

The campaign features Duncan Armstrong and Laurie Lawrence and includes online and radio advertising, television commercials in capital cities across Australia and a new edition of Entice magazine.

 Watch the new steak TV commercial now

Can red meat be green? Experts debate sustainable food production
Five of Australia’s leading environmentalists locked horns at a forum in Sydney to debate the future of red meat in feeding the world’s growing population.

Internationally-acclaimed scientist Tim Flannery weighed into a provocative debate with The Climate Institute’s Corey Watts, Murdoch University Professor of Sustainable Agriculture Nick Costa, NSW livestock producer Sam Archer and MLA's Beverley Henry.

Find out more and watch highlights from the forum