Rain, markets fuel optimism as 500 gather for Texas Angus field day + PICS

Speakers from the first session of the Nothin’ But Beef on-farm field day hosted by Texas Angus at Warialda yesterday (from left) NH Foods Tony Fitzgerald, Anthony Naticchia and Brett Williams; NAB chief economist Dr Sally Auld; Wendy Mayne; NFF president Hamish McIntyre and Ben Mayne.

AN impressive turnout of around 500 cattle producers and industry stakeholders attended a Texas Angus on-farm field day and bull inspection day near Warialda yesterday, underlining growing confidence ahead of the 2026 spring bull selling season.

The event marked a significant milestone for the Mayne family, which is celebrating 90 years of Texas Angus breeding, and also captured an improvement in sentiment across northern New South Wales and southern Queensland following widespread rain in early June and continued strength in cattle markets.

After a summer and early autumn dominated by severe dry conditions, recent rain has produced fresh green pick across much of the region. While follow-up rain is still needed, it was clear from conversations Beef Central had with producers across the day that confidence and the outlook for the upcoming bull selling season has lifted significantly from where it was a few months ago.

Ben and Wendy Mayne addressing the 500 strong audience at Texas Angus yesterday.

Welcoming guests to the “Nothin’ But Beef” field day, Texas Angus principal Wendy Mayne said the combination of improving seasonal conditions and strong global demand for Australian beef was driving genuine optimism.

“Global demand for high protein continues to grow, and the Australian beef industry truly is in the box seat,” she said.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of the industry.

“The rain finally came, and it was great. So, confidence is building.”

Mrs Mayne said the family had chosen the stud’s 90th anniversary as an opportunity to give something back to clients and the wider beef industry.

“As part of this milestone, and the beef industry being so good to Ben and myself, we wanted to create an event that we give back to our loyal clients, but also to the wider industry, bringing people together to share ideas, to celebrate the achievement of the industry, and to learn from one another,” she said.

The day combined bull inspections with presentations on global markets, genetics, beef demand and the future direction of the industry with opening presentations from National Farmers Federation president Hamish McIntyre and NAB chief economist Dr Sally Auld.

NFF President Hamish McIntyre

Hamish Mcintyre said the Mayne family’s contribution to seedstock breeding and driving productivity improvements across generations underlined the importance of family farming to Australian agriculture,

He said the beef industry was in “a prime spot” particularly with the change in diets occurring throughout the western world, but government support and investment in agriculture to drive productivity and growth was essential for that potential to be fulfilled.

Support for trade access, more efficient supply chains through better roads, rail and ports and the removal of unnecessary regulatory burdens such as the recent reforms to the Federal EPBC Act over and above State legislation for vegetation management were areas he singled out as important for Government attention to help drive agricultural productivity growth.

He said it was “so important” that the importance of family farming to Australia be recognised, and he touched on recent work by the NFF with the Federal Government to get capital tax gains tax thresholds to a place where the next generation of family members were not encumbered with huge capital gains bills to pay each other and older generations out.

“So it’s important we explain these things, and to give the treasurer his due, he asked me to go away and find the evidence and give it to him to consider it, and we came back and he did honour his commitment.”

Dr Sally Auld

NAB chief economist Dr Sally Auld told the field day that the changing global economy could ultimately work in Australian agriculture’s favour.

While geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions were reshaping international trade, she said Australia’s ability to reliably produce food and energy positioned it strongly for the decade ahead, with food security becoming increasingly important for many nations.

“My sense is that the next decade, and possibly beyond, are going to be really positive decades of the commodities asset class in general, and I think Australia, and particularly the regions and commodity producers, are going to be very well positioned to take advantage of that.”

In the domestic economy, she said the environment was “quite challenging at the moment” with a combination of inflation that is higher than desired and slowing growth, and an unemployment rate that’s likely to rise over the next 12 to 18 months.

“But what I would say is that the silver lining in all of this is that if we look forward to 2027, if all goes according to plan, we should have inflation that’s finally back in the target band after too many years of running well above target,” she said.

“We should have a domestic economy that is through the worst of the slowdown, starting to bottom out and picking up in 2027.

“And if our view on interest rates is right, we should have a central bank that has, we think, now completed the tightening cycle, so rate hikes are done, rates on hold this year, and we think even though it’s sort of hard to pick the timing, we’re going to go with the second quarter of 2027 that rate should start to come down back into maybe the threes.”

Scroll down to see some of the faces Beef Central’s camera captured at the field day, and keep an eye out for more coverage to follow next week.

Glen Whitton, Nutriment Health and Peter Stanton, Mt Kilcoy, Kilcoy, Qld.

Liz Pearson, Meat and Livestock Australia and Paige Marsh, Outcross.

Ben Mayne and Hamish McIntyre

Tony Fitzgerald, general manager NH Foods’ Whyalla Feedlot, Texas.

Pete Crothers, Insight Accounting, Goondiwindi; Will Mayne, Texas Angus, Warialda and Wyn Snyman, AuctionsPlus.

Jason Taylor, Riverina, Warwick and Ben and Jo Ree, Lallemand Animal Nutrition.

Jason Lipp, David Moffit and James Rohde from NAB Agribusiness.

Peter Robson, Texas; Maree Crawford, Terragen, Toowoomba ane Cheryl Brownlie, Elders Finance, Goondiwindi.

Goondiwindi’s Pauline and Henry Leonard and Nicole Gittins, Farrelly Hill Law.

Amber Woods, Agriwebb, Rowena, NSW with Angus Archer, Archer Pastoral Company, Goondiwindi and Royce Hunter, Bonyi Grazing, Goondiwindi.

GDL’s Mark Duthie, Dalby, and Brad Cavanagh, Kingaroy.

Internationally known chef, author and television personality Chef Jason Roberts, an NH Foods Branded Partner, kept the huge crowd well-fed with charcoal-roasted Angus Reserve cube rolls.