Wodonga is the first of five 150-minute public forums across Australia the ACCC is holding as part of its market study into the cattle and beef industry.

It will be held between 1pm and 3:30pm at the Wodonga Football and Netball clubrooms.

Other forums are at Toowoomba, Mount Gambier, Dubbo and Bunbury.

The venue confirmation comes in the same week Meat and Livestock Australia published its latest report into price transparency in the beef supply chain.

It was initiated by the Cattle Council of Australia to consider options for increasing price transparency after concerns about a lack of price information along the beef value chain was affecting marketing and investment decisions in the industry. The report acknowledges a reasonable amount of cattle and beef market information exists in Australia but suggests a range of further initiatives. 

“MLA currently provides a range of services including daily red meat market news updates, regional saleyard reports, live export information and price indicators,” Managing director Richard Norton said.

“As a service provider, MLA is committed to continuous improvement in its market reporting and insights services to provide industry with the most comprehensive, timely and professional information.

“Recent improvements include revamping our weekly over-the-hooks cattle indicator reports to assist producers and industry to better analyse market trends.”

Last week he told people at an Angus conference in Albury that Australia exported 70 per cent of its beef and there would be no point in having price transparency.