CURRENT market conditions and the future outlook of the Australian beef industry were the key points focused on during the beef production information held at the Jindalee Feedlot, Stockinbingal on Friday.
Hosted by Teys Australia at it’s company feedlot, key note speakers raised a wide range of issues at stake for the Australian beef industry as a whole.
Whilst there is deserved optimism within the industry, with current strong prices and reasonable seasonal conditions, it was pointed out with historically low cattle numbers, reduced brandings in the north, increased sell-off due to drought conditions and high kill rate of females, it will be some time before the herd can rebuild to previous numbers.
Market conditions abroad are very strong, with increasing interest from Asia and the Middle East driving the demand, but the US continues to be the biggest market and it dominates world beef supply, according to Ben Thomas, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).
“We have a comparative advantage with our dollar relative to the US dollar,” Mr Thomas said.
“And that is helping drive the demand for our product.”
Other issues of concern to the producer included the consumer perception about the sustainability of beef production, along with related issues like animal welfare and environmental degradation.
MLA Community Engagement Manager, Jax Baptista urged producers to be pro-active when it comes to getting the message out there.
“You are all aware of animal welfare and environmental sustainability in your business,” she told the assembled crowd of over 230 beef producers and industry representatives.
“But you have to be equally active in breaking down the perceptions that beef production is damaging the environment and is injurious to consumers health.”
The concern over health issues was raised by Susie Craig, speaking for McDonalds, who said the company is a large consumer of Australian beef and wants to continue the relationship.
“Our business is built on beef and our customers associate our products with beef,” Ms Craig said.
“But they are still interested in eating healthy, balanced diets and we believe we provide that with our beef burgers.”
Teys Australia CEO Brad Teys said his company is striving to increase productivity to be able to make better returns for stakeholders in the beef industry.
Teys Australia is an equal partnership between the Teys family and the US-based Cargill family.
“We are looking at collaborative and value-adding relationships with our customers so we can provide better products into the market, and in turn pay good prices for cattle,” Mr Teys said.
Producers spoken too thought the day valuable, with many expressing the hope it will become an annual event.
Other keen participants noted the statistics provided by Ben Thomas confirmed their confidence in the industry, while they accepted more could be done in bridging the perception gap between the paddock and the plate.
