AUSTRALIA's continued run of extreme livestock prices has all but halted the movement of cattle from Queensland into the live trade.
Domestic markets continue to experience never-imagined-before prices; the benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator closing on Tuesday at a staggering 1061c/kg dressed.
That's up a massive 235c/kg - or 22 per cent - on 12 months ago, and given the increasingly positive seasonal outlook appears set to hit new heights as restockers throughout eastern Australia scramble for cattle to put into grass-filled paddocks.
The reality is young steers are now worth anywhere from $1500 to $2000/head, largely pricing out the live cattle trade out of the Australian market, despite strong consumer demand for beef.
A shipment of 2100 bulls from Townsville this week is expected to the last consignment to Vietnam in the foreseeable future (see story p13).
Queensland Livestock Exporters Association president Greg Pankhurst said exporters were doing their best to maintain relations with their long-established customers in south east Asia.
"It's difficult, particularly because of price but also because of the obvious limited availability of cattle," Mr Pankhurst said.
"Exporters are doing whatever they can to keep the lines of communication open.
"It means explaining in these key markets about what is happening with prices in Australia and the impact of the ongoing shortage of cattle.
"It's also about working with the industry to reinforce the value of Australian cattle in Indonesia: how they are fed, processed, and the importance of the beef."
Mr Pankhurst said the difficulties in both the key Indonesian and Vietnamese cattle markets were compounded by a shortage of feedstuffs, typically by-products from food processed in Indonesia for human consumption.
It's difficult, particularly because of price but also because of the limited availability of cattle.
- Greg Pankhurst, Queensland Livestock Exporters Association
In addition, the limited amounts of imported protein supplements such as soybean meal used in feed rations had also significantly increased in price.
However, he said the substitution of beef with cheaper buffalo meat from India had been relatively limited compared to the shortfall in Australian cattle, he said.
Domestically produced chicken meat consumption in particular had increased, as had soybean based products including tofu, he said.
Australia exported almost 1.3 million cattle in 2020, a trade which peaked in 2015. It was a remarkable recovery for an industry that was shut down by former Labor Agriculture Minister, Joe Ludwig, in 2011.
The massive slow down in the live export trade has not stopped activist group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals from continuing its ongoing attacks on the industry.
Video released earlier this week by the long time critic of the livestock industry shows cattle being mistreated in Indonesian meatworks.
PETA says the video was captured by its investigators at Indonesian abattoirs in April and May.
"The live-export industry is the meat industry and the leather industry," PETA's vegan campaign says.
"If you buy meat at an Australian supermarket or purchase a pair of leather shoes, you're putting money in the pockets of the same people who send these animals to be slaughtered in hideous, painful ways overseas."
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