WANGARATTA farmer Greg Mirabella said the local Victorian Farmers Federation branch, of which he is president, played a key role in calling for government scrutiny of the processing sector following the buyers' boycott at Barnawartha saleyard in February.
Many of the producers' questions and comments at the Meat & Livestock (MLA) producers' forum in the state's north-east on Tuesday related to the boycott and the resulting senate enquiry into the red meat processing sector.
The boycott was a rally point for producers' anger about processors having more power than producers and a perceived lack of transparency in the industry, including on the profit margins along the supply chain and how their levy funds were spent.
Mudgegonga beef producer Loretta Carroll called for the Australian industry to adopt similar laws as the US which requires processors to publicly report the prices they pay for beasts and the prices they get for the meat.
"It would make the industry fairer. For example, Australian producers get about 35 per cent of the retail value of their cattle, but in the US it's more than 50pc," Ms Carroll said.
Mr Norton said he was sceptical of government intervention, and the challenges of reporting the value margins through the supply chain. With 70pc of Australian beef being exported, it would be difficult and costly to get that information. If such a report was to be made now, it could show that beef farmers were getting a good price, which would not be indicative of the tough times of the last two to three years.