AUSTRALIA IS buying New Zealand stock in its struggle to keep up with demand for export heifers particularly to China.

Primary sector export revenue is expected to decline in 2012/13, a Ministry for Primary Industries report shows.

iFarm's monthly Market Outlook report for beef is forecasting prices for bull and steer to peak around $4.60-$4.65/kg this spring. 

THREE YEARS ago Whangara Farms won the Ahuwhenua Trophy for the best Maori sheep and beef farm in New Zealand.

Lamb kill numbers are just showing signs of declining. But unlike in the beef market, farmgate prices are not feeling too much upward pressure.

Early Beef + Lamb figures suggested a 17,000 head lift in the North Island cow kill this season. Now it seems it won't get anywhere close and in fact could be much lower than historical levels.

While US imported beef prices have softened in recent weeks, the weaker NZ dollar has more than made up for this. 

US end users of beef remain reluctant to buy too far forward and instead continue to play the spot market. 

CLIVE AND Jorga Walden sharemilk a 160ha, 415-cow dairy farm and run a 167ha drystock farm to the rear of the dairy property.

The country now has more than six million dairy cattle, an increase partly driven by higher milk solid payouts, Statistics New Zealand says.