Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) – Feedlot Research for Accelerated Adoption (RAAD) Program

$45M funding pool, no max grant request.
50% co-contribution required
Funding contributes to costs associated with conducting the trials and collecting commercially relevant data.
Program is open on an ongoing basis

The Feedlot Research for Accelerated Adoption (RAAD) Program is a national initiative led by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA). The program represents a $45 million investment over five years aimed at accelerating the adoption of proven tools, systems and technologies across Australia’s feedlot sector.

RAAD has been designed to embed structured, commercially focused research directly within operating feedlots. The intent is to generate robust, real‑world evidence that can be rapidly shared and adopted across the industry, supporting improved livestock productivity, animal wellbeing and business resilience. Unlike traditional capital grant programs, RAAD does not fund infrastructure purchases. Instead, funding contributes to the costs associated with conducting trials and collecting commercially relevant data under normal feedlot operating conditions.

The program’s first iteration focuses on shade and shelter systems, allowing feedlot operators to evaluate solutions suited to their climate, geography and production systems. MLA has indicated that future project calls may expand into additional priority areas identified by industry, including animal health and welfare technologies, automation and labour efficiency, performance optimisation and environmental sustainability.

Key Requirements

Accelerate adoption of proven technologies Support the uptake of tools and systems that improve productivity, animal wellbeing and business resilience through commercially relevant evidence generated in operating feedlots.
Embed research at commercial scale Conduct structured research within real feedlot environments to ensure findings reflect practical, local operating conditions faced by lot feeders.
Focus on industry‑identified priorities Initial focus is on shade and shelter systems, with scope to expand into other priority areas such as automation, animal health, performance optimisation and sustainability.

What is eligible for funding?

Conducting structured research trials within operating feedlots
Collecting commercially relevant data on feedlot performance, welfare and productivity
Evaluating shade and shelter systems under different climatic and production conditions
Testing adoption‑ready technologies and tools aligned with MLA priority areas
Generating evidence to support wider industry adoption

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible entities include:

Australian feedlot operators
Organisations participating in or hosting structured feedlot research activities

Additional considerations:

Research must be conducted in commercial feedlot environments
Funding supports research and data collection costs, not capital infrastructure
Participation requirements and selection criteria are not fully articulated publicly

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

Industry analysis presentation
Competitor Analysis Presentation
Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.

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