INCREASED cattle prices have finally placed the cattle market index where it should be, providing it flows on to box beef prices, so all sectors of the beef industry can benefit, says Texas district cattleman and beef processor Karl Harms, Severn Fields.
Mr Harms was on hand buying at the Warwick sale on Tuesday to fill an order for his company, Australian Grassfed Meats, which he owns in partnership with Roderick Binny, Westbrook Station, Armidale, NSW.
Australian Grassfed Meats supplies quality MSA-graded beef to both the domestic and international export markets including China, Korea, Singapore, and Canada through a service kill at Casino Co-operative Abattoir, NSW.
Although Mr Harms is the first to admit paying more money for similar lines he was buying prior to Christmas "may hurt in the short term", the flow-on effect will benefit the entire beef industry.
"We will just have to bear these costs until the lag time of boxed beef prices improves," he said.
"Cattle prices certainly had to improve so all sections of the industry benefited, and if it can't, and the price comes back, then we all make less money."
Before Christmas, Mr Harms paid an average of 203c/kg for similar cattle he bought at Warwick this week.
On Tuesday, he paid a top price of 255c/kg for 15-month-old Santa Gertrudis steers - equating to $1358/head.
Overall he finished with 31 head for an average weight of 532kg, paying an average price of 243c/kg, an increase of 43c/kg more than late last year.
He said his company had paid an average of 253c/kg the previous week for similar cattle bought from Tamworth, Armidale, and Inverell, to secure continuity of supply for customers.
All cattle bought from saleyards by Australian Grassfed Meats are finished for 30 days either at Severn Fields or Westbrook Station to ensure they make the MSA grade.
On average, 120 to 145 cattle are service killed at Casino fortnightly to meet Australian Grassfed Meat's strong domestic and export market focus.