Five questions we’re hearing about The Future Flock

As The Future Flock moves towards its next milestone at LambEx, one thing has become clear: people have questions. And that’s not surprising.

On Friday, State Farming Organisations had the opportunity to hear an update on the work completed to date, the findings emerging from consultation, and the developing approach to the next steps of The Future Flock beyond LambEx.

The Future Flock is the first attempt to bring Australia’s wool and sheepmeat sectors together under a shared long-term framework, and a project of that scale is always going to prompt discussion.

Here are five of the questions we’re hearing most often.

1. Why has this happened so quickly?

Time has been one of the biggest challenges since the project began. The project has been operating within a defined (and confined) timeframe from the outset, but stakeholders have consistently made one point clear:  don’t compromise the quality of The Future Flock to meet a deadline.

That message has been heard.

While LambEx is an important milestone, and a key event to showcase our progress to-date, it is not the finish line. The Future Flock is intended to be a living strategy; by design, it will continue to evolve as industry priorities, markets and opportunities, and global conditions change.

2. What actually is The Future Flock?

The Future Flock frames the key strategic priorities common to the Australian sheepmeat and wool industries to – and beyond – a ten-year horizon.  

Within that frame, and as collated from extensive – and ongoing - consultation across the sheep supply chain, The Future Flock is designed to capture a broad range of issues that are most likely to have a significant influence on the industry in the near and far future. 

The level of that influence is largely determined through economic modelling and scenario analyses, the outputs of which help determine the most probable and/or valuable considerations as upside opportunities (to grasp and exploit) and downside risks (to mitigate, as practicably as possible, in a proactive way).

Critically, The Future Flock is an exercise in identifying and defining the key strategic issues around which the sheepmeat and wool industries can unite and pursue, explicitly  for the benefit of both supply chains. 

As a strategic framework, The Future Flock is designed to function as an “investment prospectus” outlining the significance and value of future opportunities and challenges for the sheep industry.  It is pitched to inform and guide any and all entities – individuals, organisations, businesses and government – for future investment.

3. Why do we need this?

Australia’s sheep industry has no shortage of good people, good organisations or good ideas.  And in parallel, there are dozens of strategies, plans, programs and investments aimed at addressing specific challenges and opportunities.

Yet despite that capacity and potential, co-ordination of investment and activity remains largely ad hoc or fragmented, and many of the industries’ longstanding challenges – and opportunities – remain unresolved and/or under-utilised.

As a result, confidence rises and falls, flock numbers fluctuate, labour shortages persist, and productivity growth remains underwhelming. Meanwhile, community expectations, market preferences and global trading conditions evolve.

The Future Flock starts from a simple premise:  given these challenges continue to surface, it is worth addressing the underlying causes rather than simply responding to the symptoms?

Rather than focusing on individual issues in isolation, The Future Flock seeks to identify the bigger forces shaping the future of the industry and the constraints that may be limiting progress.

Because if the industry wants a different future, it first needs a clearer understanding of what is shaping the present.

4. Is this reinventing the wheel?

In short:  no.

The purpose of The Future Flock is not to duplicate existing strategies, but to help identify the priorities – common to both the sheepmeat and wool industries - around which individual effort and investment can be co-ordinated and aligned.

Many organisations across these industries are already delivering important work, and that work remains critical.

But a systematic, co-ordinated approach to areas of common interest or mutual value can leverage these efforts into much bigger things.

“1 + 1 = 3” so to speak.

One of the next key stages of The Future Flock is to comprehensively map existing strategies, and related initiatives and investments, to better understand areas of mutual interest, and to identify gaps and areas where greater coordination could help deliver stronger outcomes.

The Future Flock is intended to complement existing efforts by providing a shared long-term direction for the industry, not replace them; to guide – not prescribe – collaborative and complimentary strategic investment and focus.

5. Have enough people been involved?

The Australian sheep industry has one of the largest geographic and demographic footprints in the country. And it is a big, broad church as far as ideas, values and influences.  It follows that canvassing the full breadth of the industry’s operations and constituents is no small task, even without the limits of budget and time. 

Not surprisingly, there will always be people who are hearing about – or engaging with – The Future Flock for the first time.  That feedback has been acknowledged.

To-date, more than 350 people have participated through workshops, interviews and surveys. But nobody is suggesting the conversation is over.

Has everyone been involved? No.

Could more people contribute? Absolutely.

In fact, continued engagement is essential.

As should be expected, we reflect on previous initiatives and approach the question of “what could we do better” openly and objectively. 

Unlike many strategic plans and initiatives of the past, The Future Flock consultation was never intended to end with the completion of a report.

Rather, The Future Flock – and the consultation and conversations that underpin it - is and are designed to continue evolving as new perspectives emerge, industry priorities shift and opportunities develop.

The conversation is ongoing, and continued industry involvement will be critical to its success.

What happens next?

LambEx will provide attendees with their first detailed look at The Future Flock, including the consultation findings, emerging priorities and supporting economic analysis.

But LambEx is not the end of the process.

The next phase will focus on testing and refining priorities identified through consultation and modelling, distilling component parts, and working with industry organisations, businesses and stakeholders to determine how the opportunities identified through The Future Flock can be actioned.

Importantly, The Future Flock is not intended to become another report that sits on a shelf.

Its success will depend on whether it helps industry – and its affiliated stakeholders - make better decisions, align effort around shared priorities and focus investment where it can have the greatest impact.

Ultimately, success will not be measured by the quality of the document itself.

Instead, it will be measured by whether it helps create a more profitable, agile and confident Australian sheep industry.

The conversation doesn’t end at LambEx.

In many respects, that’s where the real work begins.