Australia: fattening stock remains stable

ALFA President Barb Madden said national numbers remained stable compared to the previous quarter.

“We are seeing improvements in fattening numbers in Victoria, New South Wales and Washington, but a drop in Queensland means our national totals have remained stable,” Ms Madden said.

Feeding stocks in Victoria, New South Wales and Washington rose by 29%, 23% and 10% respectively, while Queensland's stock fell by 4.6% or 31,096 in the quarter.

"We have seen an adjustment in Queensland's performance reflecting market conditions and previous cattle purchases under pressure that has impacted profits," said Ms Madden. "The good news is that our national capacity has grown again by 22,689 , or up 1.5%, during the March quarter to 1.56 million HEAD, reflecting further investment and confidence in the role of feedlots in the Australian beef supply chain."

Ripley Atkinson, senior market intelligence analyst at MLA, said grain-fed beef exports for the quarter are in good shape on an annualized basis.

“Our quarterly exports in March this year remained solid, but looking at year-on-year figures, we see an increase of 6%, or 4,313 tons, which is encouraging,” Atkinson said.

In terms of cattle supplies, while feedlot buyers saw a decrease in the availability of fattening steers on sale during the quarter, average weights were at an all-time high.

“The supply of steers offered for sale decreased by 36% or 22,718 in the March quarter, with significant declines in New South Wales and Queensland. However, although the availability of forage steers has decreased, their weight has increased by 2% to 425 kg per head, which is the largest average weight of steers on record,” Mr. Atkinson said.