Why?
OPINION: A mate of yours truly wants to know why the beef schedule differential is now more than 45-50 cents a kilo between North and South Island producers – if you look at February 2024 steer prices.
Australian beef farmers are bracing for a market contraction.
MLA’s 2015 cattle industry projections are that, after two years of record slaughter and live export, the market is now likely to shrink.
Better cattle prices and competition between the domestic and export markets for reduced cattle supplies are forecast, says MLA’s manager market information Ben Thomas.
“High turn-off has had a dramatic impact on the national herd: in three years [it will have declined] from a 35-year high of 29.3 million to a two-decade low of 26.5 million by the end of 2016.
“We’ve seen an enormous turnoff of cattle and the flow-on effects are likely to last for the rest of the decade. Whether there is a widespread break in the drought or not, the high slaughter of the past two years will take a toll on supplies while seasonal weather will continue to influence farmgate returns.”
Beef exports are forecast to reach 1.05 million tonnes in 2015, down 19% and driven by the expected tightening of the domestic market. However in historical terms this figure will remain high.
The US looks to remain the biggest buyer of Australian beef in volume and value terms; the EU is likely to remain Australia’s most valuable market on a per kg basis. All other beef export markets are expected to decline.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says New Zealand has no intention of backing down in a trade dispute with Canada over dairy products.
There have been leadership changes at the Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative, which has been struggling financially in recent years.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
OPINION: In recent years farmers have been crying foul of unworkable and expensive regulations.
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.