You may have started to hear more about The Future Flock, led by Sheep Producers Australia (SPA) and co-funded by the Australian Government. This is an important piece of work for anyone running sheep in Western Australia and now is a great time to get across the detail.
What is the Future Flock?
The Future Flock is a national strategy designed to provide a clear and unifying vision for the Australian sheep industry. For the first time, sheepmeat and wool are being brought together under a single framework.
Rather than a static document, The Future Flock is being built as a “living plan”, evidence-based, economically modelled, and shaped through broad consultation with producers, processors, farm service providers, researchers, government and community stakeholders. The aim is to identify the practical pathways that will strengthen profitability, resilience and public confidence in Australian sheep production over the next 20 to 30 years.
The strategy is now well into its consultation phase. The National Advisory Panel, a 10-member, skills-based group covering production, supply chain, trade, research, sustainability, biosecurity, policy, advocacy, leadership and finance, was appointed in late 2025, and Milne AgriGroup’s Group Veterinarian, Dr Holly Ludeman, was pleased to take a seat at that table to help ensure WA perspectives are part of the national conversation.
Since then, regional consultation workshops have rolled out across the country, beginning in South Australia and Tasmania. Producers and supply chain participants are sharing on-the-ground experience to test draft priorities and direction, with the tone of those workshops described as practical, constructive and future-focused. Underpinning all of this is detailed economic modelling that quantifies the impact of key challenges such as the live export transition, processing capacity and workforce constraints and tests the value of different strategic choices for producers, processors and regions.
The Western Australian sheep industry is in a period of significant structural change. Flock numbers have contracted, mixed farming systems continue to evolve, and questions around how value is created, retained and grown across both wool and sheepmeat are at the forefront of mind. The WA Roadmap to 2028 sits alongside the national strategy as the dedicated WA implementation pathway, with recent industry workshops already sense-checking the draft direction against commercial conditions and long-term aspirations.
The strength of the final strategy depends on the breadth of input it receives. The more WA voices in the room, stud and commercial producers, mixed farmers, processors, farm service providers, the better the result for our state.
How to stay informed and get involved
If you’d like to keep updated or register your interest in upcoming WA workshops, take part in surveys or share your views directly with the project team, head to the Future Flock website and sign up - https://www.thefutureflock.com.au/
We encourage all producers to take a look, get informed and have their say. The Future Flock will only be as strong as the industry input behind it.
