New South Wales farmers stand to benefit, after the state government changed the definition of ‘lamb.’
The current definition involves a great deal of guesswork because it classifies a lamb as an animal that has not cut an incisor tooth.
New South Wales Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall says without a clear guideline, producers are being short-changed.
“In practice, this means producers can have as little as one month’s warning before they face the price cliff associated with their lamb becoming classified as a hogget,” he said.
From now on, a lamb is any ovine under 12 months of age.
“It will remove the ridiculous situation where, over a weekend, an animal could lose two-thirds of its value just because it lost a tooth, without any material change to its quality,” Mr Marshall said.
Farmers could see a $10 million increase to their annual returns under the new definition, or $50 per animal.
The changes will see the state brought into line with international competitors such as New Zealand.
