Cattle producers behind a major beef industry crisis summit in Richmond today are calling on the Federal Government to step in and buy as many as 100,000 cattle to take the pressure off drought-stricken northern paddocks.

The Northern Gulf Graziers Group is putting 15 core resolutions to today’s debt crisis summit, which is being attended by state and federal politicians including federal agriculture minister Joe Ludwig and, Queensland agricuture minister John McVeigh, and hundreds of northern producers.

Included in the 15 resolutions is a call for the Federal Government to purchase 100,000 cattle under an aid program for Indonesia, to provide boxed beef to help ease a supply shortfall in the country which is pushing beef prices to unaffordable levels, and to help to relieve an oversupply situation in northern Australia that is putting pressure on drought-stricken paddocks and cattle prices.

At a price of $1.50/kg, 100,000 steers averaging around 350kg would require a commitment of $52.5 million, plus a similar amonut to cover freight, processing and exporting costs.

The idea has been floated by Cloncurry shire mayor and cattleman Andrew Daniels, who says as many as 300,000 cattle are now in a desperate situation as paddocks run out of feed and cutbacks in live export orders mean there is no viable outlet to sell them.

He has warned that hundreds of thousands of cattle could be shot or left to die.

Federal MP Bob Katter, who’s seat of Kennedy covers the worst affected areas of north west Queensland, said efforts by animal rights groups to destroy live export markets were likely to lead to the starvation of northern cattle.

“Comments on meat processing in Egypt and Indonesia by government and rabid animal welfare groups has, quite rightly, been interpreted as the new face of ‘new colonialism’,” Mr Katter said in a press release issued ahead of today's summit.

“They are the white faces killing our industry, saying we must educate these ‘poor primitive peoples to be morally superior like us’.

"History is full of misguided do-gooders and extremists such as animal welfare groups, a stance that will probably result in the death by starvation of cattle.

“The reality is that poor countries cannot afford to buy meat processed in Australia – it is too expensive – but they can afford meat that is grown-out and processed in Indonesia.”

Mr Katter said markets for hundreds of thousands of cattle were lost as a result of the Federal Government’s sudden decision to suspend trade to Indonesia without-warning in mid-2011, leading to an oversupply situation that was forcing producers to shoot cattle.

He called on the Federal Government to work to repair international relations and to respond with initiatives on home soil.

“Ongoing issues such as the artificially-inflated $AUD and interest rates, property price plunges and questionable lending by the banks, as well as harsh weather events on top of a dwindling live export market, have seen a decrease in cattle prices not seen since the 1980s – and it just keeps getting worse.

“Cattle stations are drowning in debt and graziers walking off the land as they battle a diminishing market.

“Since they shut down the live export industry, cattle families have been treading water through good seasons of good weather and local sales. Seven out of eight years these cattlemen have had to put more money into their properties than what they are getting out.

“When you throw in the drought, which 13 shires in the region are currently declared as, the forecast is that graziers will see production halved over the next two years.

“Breeder properties are absolutely reliant on feed supplementation without which, there is limited production. Those supplement costs have grown by 35 per cent in the last six years. This paired with the demise of the live export industry means that from a freight perspective, they now have to send their store cattle some 1500km-2000km to market rather than 300km-500km previously.”

More reports from today’s summit in Richmond to come