MLA members voted to retain the levy with a convincing 72.5 per cent of votes cast in favour of the resolution (grassfed producers – 70.7pc; grainfed producers – 75.8pc)

MLA chairman Don Heatley said he was grateful for the industry’s show of support for continued investment in MLA’s marketing activities for Australian beef and livestock.

“It is pleasing to receive such strong support from the industry and I can assure producers that MLA remains committed to continuing to work hard to deliver a return on their investment,” Mr Heatley said.

Having demonstrated clear industry support for the $5 levy, the producer peak councils will now present a full report to the Federal Minister for Agriculture Tony Burke for its retention.

Mr Heatley paid tribute to the work of the Beef Marketing Funding Committee and in particular the independent chair Peter Hughes.

“The Committee conducted their review thoroughly and sought widespread industry input before making their recommendation to industry,” Mr Heatley said.

The vote was the culmination of a 12-month process including the Committee’s review and a six-month campaign to create awareness among producers and encourage them to participate.

“Over 70 forums were held across the country with more than 6,000 producers attending to hear more about the industry’s promotional activities – it is pleasing to see how many producers participated in the vote this year and I thank them for getting involved,” Mr Heatley said.

In other results, current MLA board director Peter Trefort was re-elected, while first-time nominees Iain Mars and Dr Greg Harper were also appointed to the board.

The voting results for each board director were:

• 95.6pc of votes were cast in favour of electing Peter Trefort as an MLA board director.

• 81.4pc of votes were cast in favour of electing Iain Mars as an MLA board director.

• 88pc of votes were cast in favour of electing Dr Greg Harper as an MLA board director.

MLA members also voted in support of the resolution to amend the MLA constitution to enable the company to make greater use of electronic methods to communicate information to members. There were 92pc of votes were cast in support of the resolution. The resolution required 75pc support to be successful.