AMPC is pleased to welcome Sarah Babington to our team. Sarah joined AMPC in February 2025 as a Project Officer supporting the Market Access and Product Integrity research program areas. Sarah will work closely with processors and service providers on projects that focus on technical market access, food safety, animal welfare, and regulation.
Sarah is a trained veterinarian who graduated from The University of Queensland. After graduating she spent several years working as an on-plant veterinarian for the Australian Government Department of Agriculture at various export establishments across NSW and Qld. She then worked at RSPCA Australia for five years as the scientific officer for farm animals responsible for poultry, pigs, and slaughter. Most recently she has been working with Impetus Animal Welfare as the chief scientific officer leading a project that is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to monitor animal welfare at slaughtering establishments. She also submitted her PhD thesis at The University of Western Australia on identifying and validating indictors for sheep welfare, which was in collaboration with The University of Queensland and supported by Meat & Livestock Australia.
How did you get involved in the red meat processing industry?
In my first year of veterinary science, I visited a processing plant and while standing in the lairage watching cattle being moved through to the stunning area I can remember thinking to myself that I want to be involved in making this process better. As a result, I used my elective in my final year of veterinary science to spend time at several different processing plants and then joined the Department of Agriculture after graduating to be an on-plant veterinarian. Since then, I have tried to design a career that provides me with first-hand experience and insight into the different areas of the red meat processing industry so that I can help to facilitate progressive improvements in animal welfare and production.
What are you most excited about your role and working with processors?
There are so many exciting AMPC projects in progress within the product and process integrity and market access space at the moment. I am really excited to be working closer with processors to learn from them to improve my knowledge of the industry, as well as be apart of the research projects that aim to address issues faced by processors and improve the industry.
What are your priorities for the next three months?
My priorities for the next three months are to mostly get across all the AMPC projects that are currently in progress in the product and process integrity and market access space. I will be trying to learn as much as a I possibly can from Ann McDonald with all her experience, while also supporting her in managing all the projects we are involved with. I also have a few opportunities to get out on-site and meet some of our members which I'm really looking forward to.
Where do you see red meat processing in 10 years?
With the rapid changes in technology it feels like an exciting time to be a part of the industry. In the next 10 years I suspect there will be an increased uptake of automation and the use of technologies like artificial intelligence within the red meat processing industry. For example, I think we will see the development and use of robotics and artificial intelligence technologies to optimise carcase processing, quality control, and traceability. With these types of technologies being used at processing plants, we will also hopefully be able to optimise product yield while using less resources and producing less waste. I also think we will see a greater use and perhaps mandatory requirement for video surveillance and artificial intelligence systems to assist with monitoring animal welfare at processing plants. My hope is that these types of technologies for monitoring animal welfare will provide processors more information to inform changes in management and handling practices that can improve production as well as animal welfare at harvest.
I’d also like to think that we will see greater communication and better feedback mechanisms between producers and processors, given that producing a good meat product starts on farm. I think we will see more data being collected on animal welfare and meat quality which will then be able to be reported back to producers to inform and improve their practices. There may be increased pressure for the Australian industry to provide evidence of its disease-free status of many of the trade relevant notifiable diseases, such as foot and mouth disease, and thus having complete supply chain traceability and health records will be important.
Get in touch with Sarah at s.babington@ampc.com.au