Rain cuts Australia's cattle turnoff

Australian adult cattle slaughter fell sharply in January, as wet conditions throughout much of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland limited turnoff, as processors continued to operate at reduced shifts.

National slaughter for the month was back 10% on-year to 497,000 head, while beef and veal production declined 8%, to 138,140 tonnes cwt.

Adult slaughter declined 17% in Queensland for January, to 167,000 head, 9% in NSW (128,000 head) and 8% in Victoria (120,000 head) with widespread rainfall events across eastern Australia since Christmas allowing producers to hold cattle and igniting re-stocker demand.

At the end of summer, almost all regions of Queensland and much of northern NSW have recorded their best summer in decades, which has tightened cattle turnoff and kicked cattle prices. As at March 10, the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) had risen 72.75¢, or 29%, to 350.50¢/kg since reaching a low of 277.75¢/kg cwt in mid-December.

The rain induced contraction in supply comes at a time when many processors were already operating at reduced shifts, in an effort to combat difficult market conditions and lower cattle numbers. Emphasising the overall tighter supply of cattle, total slaughter has been back on-year for the past five consecutive months, with total numbers back 7% since September.