Snowy Mountains Australia

Snowy Mountains is a family-owned company of farmers in Australia who believe in humane farming activities using less chemicals, and employ cleanliness, safety and hygiene, which expanded with a difference; they moved on to producing Halal.

Snowy Mountains saw Halal as a lucrative business venture, as there is a great demand for Halal meat and produce. “This move to Halal production was not a problem, and we saw it as a system that is worth going into,” says Roger Burns, Chairman of Snowy Mountains Australia.

Snowy Mountains started with only managing livestock and farming activities, and expanded to production of dairy products, wool, and meat. They also have their own abattoir, and as a result, they are the only company in Australia that has control over its entire livestock supply chain.

With their experience in livestock from farming to processing, and the attitude of promoting ‘clean food for a healthier living’, Snowy Mountains decided to invest in a system for Halal production – providing consultancy and farming services to Muslims wanting to go into Halal production. 

Its farming service is targeted for Muslim businesspersons and farmers to encourage Halal produce by Muslims, as there are currently more non-Muslim-owned businesses in the Halal arena. Included in this service is hands-on assistance and training by Snowy Mountains’ farmers; also raising the cattle of Muslim-owned businesses on their farm, or on farms in Australia, managed by Snowy Mountains. 

Mr Mohamed Adil Rahman, who is the Manager of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) Inc, supervises all activities by the company, therefore Snowy Mountains is fully Halal accredited – the only such Australian farming company.

Under this farming service, Snowy Mountains has an on-going project in East Africa with a farm of 110,000 acres in size. The focus is to improve product activities, feed and types of animals raised, and especially raising cattle and goat for export into the Middle East.

With the success of this project in East Africa, Snowy Mountains expanded further by looking at Malaysia as their next potential project, since Malaysia is spearheading the development of the Halal industry with a vision of becoming a global Halal Hub.

In addition, based on Malaysia’s Third National Agriculture Policy (NAP3), Malaysia is currently looking at improving the agriculture sector as one of the engines to boost Malaysian economy, and promoting self-sufficiency in agriculture and food industries. Snowy Mountains saw this as a great opportunity to provide assistance.

Burns said, "I was impressed with the government's aims of self sufficiency, boosting their agriculture sector and developing a Malaysian brand, but I felt that these aims would be more efficiently implemented if Malaysians had access to Australian farmers and their generations of farming knowledge. I felt that by making this knowledge available, I could make a real difference in Malaysia."

“Snowy Mountains operate on small holding and high scale companies, and the level of national policy,” he added, and therefore sees fit to assist Malaysian companies at all levels in the livestock sector.

On what inspired Burns to go to Malaysia, he said, "I went to a seminar in Melbourne and heard your International Trade and Industry Minister, Dato’ Seri Rafidah Aziz. I was struck with her energy and commitment to Malaysia, therefore I wanted an opportunity to be involved.  Having seen the natural resources available in Malaysia, I know that with the right knowledge, these aims can be achieved."

At the end of February 2008, Snowy Mountains Australia agreed to a joint venture with a Malaysian family-based farm, Al-Falah Farm Sdn Bhd. The JV between these two farms was created with an agreement under knowledge and expertise transfer from Snowy Mountains, which was sought out by Al-Falah.

In response to Malaysia’s call for improvement and establishment of self-sufficiency in the local agriculture and food sectors, Al-Falah went forth into the livestock venture, seeing this as an opportunity, since Malaysia is currently dependent on imports of livestock and its by-products from countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, India, and so on.

Realising the hindering factor to the Malaysian livestock sector being the lack of technology, knowledge and expertise in farming and livestock production, Al-Falah went on a search for a remedy to this problem. “I believe that without knowledge, we will not be able to grow and be successful,” says Md Zubir Abdul Rahman, Chairman of Al-Falah.

Their search for expertise, through the Malaysian Embassy and AFIC, led them to Snowy Mountains Australia, who are problem solvers as a principle. “Australian farmers are not merely farmers, but are problem solvers,” says Burns. "We were delighted to meet Al-Falah. They are an entrepreneurial company with considerable energy and vision. They wanted our knowledge, and we wanted to provide it."

The initial stage of this project will begin by the end of March 2008, with plans of setting up the property and conditioning it to be fit for raising livestock. During the initial stage, Roger Burns himself, along with another farmer from Snowy Mountains, and Md Zubir will start training the local farmers in Al-Falah to show the right way of managing a farm. Al-Falah will start with raising local goats, and some Australian and East African breed of goats, and will start to develop milk and beef industry.

This JV will also be looking at developing a sort of Malaysian cattle breed by inter-breeding two different breeds of cattle. The purpose of this initiation is to develop cattle that are bigger and more productive, with tropical capabilities, tick resistance and higher growth rate to prepare Malaysia for the beef and dairy export market.

“We have already started work on this, and this can be done easily and effectively. It is only a matter of finding the right mix,” Burns added, and his confidence is based on the successful breeding in Australia and East Africa.

Beginning with Al-Falah as a pilot project in Malaysia, Snowy Mountains is looking for more local farmers who want to go into this business, especially for Halal production throughout the livestock supply chain, from raising livestock, to breeding, to feeding, and all the way to the abattoir and the boning room. This will be done with Al-Falah as a point of contact, and farmers fulfilling the additional requirement of having genuine commitment and passion for this business, and the resources to work on.

With additional support from national policies and resources by the government, Al-Falah is optimistic that this project – in collaboration with Snowy Mountains – will be successful, and will grow from a small-scale farm to become bigger. Al-Falah hopes to solve Malaysia’s problem with its supply of livestock and meat; and perhaps secure a strong foothold in Malaysia’s self-sufficiency in dairy products as well.

For further information, please contact Md Zubir Abdul Rahman at +603 6156 1117, or send an email to alfalahfarm.sb@gmail.com.