Bill Tatt's Weekly rural report
Dubbo agents for their Prime Cattle sale on February 11 drew for 2100 head.
The centre currently has difficulty breaking away from the 2000 mark with the last three sales hovering about that figure.
The last sales have comprised cattle with plenty of weight and finish and very few cattle suitable to go on to pasture.
In recent outings feeder cattle have been shining the best with heavy feeders being the brightest star of the lot.
I was speaking to a representative recently from one of our leading beef exporters in the north.
He detailed the difference between now and this same time last year regarding the beef tallies at their site.
Today the company are processing three or four days a week with one shift per day the normal.
The same time last year the shed was most weeks handling a full week of work mostly with two shifts a day and on many occasions doing one shift on Saturday.
Due to the lack of cattle this is not an isolated incident nor is it restricted to any one processor.
When we read of the price hikes from one year ago to now, we see the problems faced by the processing sector.
Only last week another southern shed closed their doors suggesting they could no longer suffer the losses that they were accruing.
Now to the brighter side of the beef story where we learn the United States Department of Ag Economic Research Division in their latest report detail some of their possible supply shortcomings for the latter half of 2021.
Reduced numbers of cattle were placed in feedlots in the last quarter of 2020 and the report goes on to suggest that with the very high cost of feed in the United States at present, the bulk of these cattle will come out at reduced weights.
Furthermore, the States cattlemen are in a herd re-building process with more heifers than normal being held back as potential breeders.
Mature aged cows which normally would find their way into the food chain are being kept a year longer to produce another calf.
In the early part of 2020 with works in the states mostly closed due to COVID-19 the country saw a build-up of stock on hand. By the end of the year this backlog had been accounted for and with increased demand prices began to edge slightly higher.
It is hoped that the demand and price continue to rise giving some confidence to our beef exporters following the loss of much volume to China being a global commodity.
There are many players including New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and a host of other countries wishing to take some of our market share.