Cattle slaughtered and beef produced

SUSTAINED and vigorous female turnoff in the drought-impacted regions across northern NSW and southern Queensland has pushed the national Female Slaughter Ratio in the March quarter towards extreme levels.

ABS quarterly survey data released this morning shows that the Female Slaughter Ratio climbed from 52pc to 53pc in the March quarter.

That was close to the recent highs of 54pc seen in the June quarters last year and the year before, when Victoria and southern NSW was being hit hard by drought. Before that, FSR had not been this high since the 2019-20 continental-scale drought event.

The combination of northern NSW/southern Queensland drought turnoff, on top of an abundance of surplus females in parts of northern Australia already at stocking capacity, and continued strength in global manufacturing beef prices has driven the surge in female kill.

Underpinning the FSR number last quarter was female slaughter of 1.221 million head, in a total slaughter tally of 2.302 million head, which was the highest March quarter slaughter tally on record, up 10pc on the year before.

The female slaughter total of 1.221m was the highest seen since September last year.

Record March quarter beef production

In terms of beef produced, the period ended 31 March was the highest March quarter on record (and the second highest quarter ever) at 730,000t – exceeded only by the September quarter last year when volume hit a record 759,000t. Historically, the March quarter is the smallest of the year for Australian beef production, due to the annual seasonal closures seen at large export plants across Queensland.

March beef production volume was 43,000t or 6pc higher than the same quarter last year.

For the first time in history, Australian cattle producers (including lotfeeders) received sale proceeds for slaughter cattle exceeding $6 billion for a quarterly period, up from $4.4 billion for the same quarter last year.

Within this national figure, proceeds from slaughter cattle sold in Queensland last quarter topped $2.5 billion for the first time, up from $2.2 billion in the same quarter last year.

Earlier ABS data for last calendar year showed that for the first time in history, total annual proceeds from slaughter cattle sold reached $20 billion.

In grainfed quarterly survey data being released later this week, grainfed slaughter cattle numbers in the March quarter reached a record high, surpassing one million head for the first time.

• More ABS data breakdown later this week.