Australian sheep turnoff hits record lows, worries over rising cow slaughter
Australian sheep turnoff fell to 1.2 million head in April as the worst drought on record continued to impact availability. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said the turnoff was the lowest since July 1996, as both mutton processors and live sheep exporters struggled to secure sheep. This was most evident in those areas that received some drought-quenching rains, thus encouraging producers to hold on to stock. April turnoff figures were 9 per cent lower than in March (1.3 million head), and 20 per cent down on the year before (1.5 million head). This was in sharp contrast to January, when sheep turnoff was the highest since November 1994, totaling 2.3 million head, with many producers being forced into selling stock over the summer months and live sheep exporters supplying record numbers to Saudi Arabia for the Haj festival. Monthly sheep turnoff totals have fallen by 1 million head, or 48 per cent, in only 4 months.
Worries also surround the current high level of cow slaughter and its effect on the national beef herd. New figures from the National Livestock Reporting Service show 16 per cent more female cows went through saleyards during April compared with the year before. The increase was even more marked in the biggest cattle producing state of Queensland, where the female kill has slowly climbed from an average of between 20 and 30 per cent to its current level of around 50%.
