It would be fair to say that 2016 was a difficult year for beef processors as all concerned struggled to maintain market share after two years of high throughput caused by the drought that raged for two or three years in many areas.
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An indication of how difficult it was to source numbers is borne out by ABS stats released for October 2016.
With 540,765 head processed for that month. the figure was 24 per cent or roughly 170,000 head less than the same month in 2015.
Some big rains through the top end and parts of Queensland does not paint the entire picture apparently.
According to a survey released in the last few days by the Queensland government some 83 per cent of that state is still drought-declared.
We all realise that wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly in the case of drought and procedure but personally I found that those figures surprising.
Having said that my man in south-east Queensland tells me that they are currently enduring a once-in-20-year drought.
Sales at Dubbo on Thursday, January 19, saw 3300 cattle scanned in what was a very plain offering.
Very few pens of good finished cattle were available and this situation saw some operators choose not to start for fear of not being able to fill the required load.
Meat and Livestock reporter David Monk saw young cattle to the trade 6c/kg cheaper, with the vealers reaching 355c/kg.
Best prime heifer yearlings realised 343c/kg. Feeder steers topped at 356c/kg. Grown steers and heifers were 6c to 10c cheaper. Heavy cows and bulls were softer.
Plain cows and light restocker calves went against the trend and recorded some very good results.
The above-mentioned cattle from the Walgett district, when broken up, sold for the cows in the range of 215.6c to 232.2 c to return $868 to $1072.
The mixed sex Angus calves sold in various lines at 436.2c, 465c, 488.2c, 458.2c and 482.4c. The best of the male calves realised $747 with the best heifer calves returning $655.
Once again another public holiday during the week will play havoc with our marketing of livestock. In this I refer to the Australia Day holiday which I appreciate is a very important day on our calendar , but nevertheless, the break in the week’s trading will cause some complications for our industry.
Dubbo and other centres will miss a day’s selling and many processors who purchase stock early in the week will struggle to have some processed until the Friday after Australia Day. It will almost be a no go zone for some workers involved in many industries.
There will be no sale at Ballimore in January. It is normally too hot and there’s too much owing on the bank cards. The next sale will be on Sunday, February 19. Bookings are already substantial.
