How the beef industry fared in 2022

Naracoorte is fully compliant with COVID requirements and Woolworths returns but China nevertheless delists the plant. COVID absenteeism continues to plague beef plants resulting in reduced kills and muted buying activity. Increased demand in US for imported lean beef spikes 90CL to US308c/lb. Labour issues improve toward end of month, buyers return to sales and grids improve to 810/750c. France blocks EU/Mexico trade deal. Russia invades Ukraine.

'Rain bombs' bring record floods to SE Qld causing damage to beef plants and consequential closures due to road damage, inability to move cattle and staff access. Port of Brisbane closes temporarily because of silting and sunken objects. Grid rates 835/775c. 90CL reaches US315c/lb. Watco to start northern cattle trains in April but Aurizon locks up trucking yards. Lumpy skin disease is detected in Sumatra. US gains trade advantage with increase in Japan beef safeguard trigger level. Cattle supply improves and beef exports rise to 74,000t. 90CL nosedives to US306c/lb. Paul Troja dies in helicopter accident.

Parts of north and west Qld that got an early break in late 2021 have so far failed to get summer seasonal rain. Supply improves and grids drop to 775/705c. Steady soaking rain arrives in central west late in the month and sets an abundance of green feed plus a winter herbage season. COVID restrictions cause delays in unloading beef shipments at Chinese ports. Sea freight rates reach record highs. Hughes Pastoral acquires Riveren and Inverway. Neil Donaldson dies, aged 66. Beef exports drop to 61,000t.

Worsening drought in parts of the US drive up cow slaughter. US domestic lean beef values trend lower with imported 90CL down to US300c/lb. Rain causes cancellation of Qld cattle sales and precautionary closure of northern rail line. FMD outbreak confirmed in Indonesia. McDonalds to exit from Russia. Labor wins federal election. Beef carcase classification champion and inaugural chief executive of AUS-MEAT, John Hall, dies aged 81. Beef exports pick up to 80,000t.

Senator Murray Watt is the new federal Minister for Agriculture. US drought continues to drive domestic lean beef supply putting imported product under pressure. 90CL drops to US285c/lb. High fed-cattle supply allows US to place increasing amounts of GF product into Japan and Korea. High transport, shipping and energy costs combined with tougher market conditions force processors to reduce grids to 760/695c. Cattle industry veterinarian John Armstrong dies, aged 85. CEO Hugh Killen resigns from AA Co.

EU and New Zealand complete free trade agreement but NZ wins only 10,000t (CWE) of new beef quota. Good rain in central and north Qld causes some lost time. Improved cattle supply drops grid rates to 725/665c but losses also recorded in store and fat markets due to FMD fear as it spreads to Bali. Heavy unloading of US product into Japan and Korea causes pain for Australian exporters. South Korea suspends imported beef tariffs. Half-year beef exports fail to reach 400,000t. 90CL plummets to US272c/lb.

Cows average more than 400c/kg LW in southern markets. Arrival of southern buyers in Qld markets arrests local rate decline returning grids to 740/670c. Good rain late in the month in the central west reduces kill schedules to four days. Beef exports surge to 92,000t but no commensurate rise in slaughterings; thought to be linked to clogged domestic market. Dutch farmers protest government intention to cut livestock numbers by one third. FMD continues to spread in Indonesia. 90CL falls to US265c/lb.

Short weeks are common in eastern Australia due to wet weather and general shortage of cattle. Qld processors hold out against rate change despite southern buying presence pushing up saleyard rates. Huge losses reported on 100-day feedlot cattle. Southern buying presence pushes rates to 750/690c. Swiss reject proposed ban on intensive livestock farming. FMD vaccination rate in Indonesia improves. Joe Lewis increases stake in AA Co and Dave Harris is the new CEO.

Heavy rain in southern states but lesser falls in Qld are enough to cause lost production. There is a big upswing in procurement of slaughter cattle but fine weather is needed to shift them. Low chicken prices in US put pressure on lean beef values. Beef exports fall despite rising slaughter numbers. NZ proposes livestock emissions tax. Australian government launches Lumpy Skin Disease Action Plan. Minerva buys Australian Lamb Co. CEO John McKillop resigns from Hancock Agriculture. Imported 90CL drops to US253c/lb.

There is a return to full kills as bigger numbers of slaughter flow through to works. China market tightens due to Zero COVID policy. Bureau of Meteorology reports La Nina and Indian Ocean Dipole climate drivers fading to neutral. Speculation on lower US slaughter cow numbers in 2023. Southern buyers return home causing big price drops in Qld markets. Grids are adjusted down to 730/670c. Brazilian beef going into bonded storage in US for release next year. LSD spreads to central Java. India and UK trade deals passed by Australian Parliament. Elders' MD Mark Allison announces retirement.

Grids drop to 680c for ox and 600 for cow early in the month with few cattle now required to year-end. EYCI and most restocker and feeder descriptions are at the lowest prices seen this year. The Dutch government announces plans to buy out farms by force if necessary to meet climate objectives. LSD spreads to east Java. US Foreign Agricultural Service reviews Tariff Rate Quotas for US beef imports. Ramifications for beef exports to EU with passage of deforestation laws.