A STRONG response to Meat & Livestock Australia’s new beef producer survey conducted before Christmas is set to deliver valuable new data on national herd size, genetic composition and producer marketing and breeding intentions heading into 2024.

The particularly strong response to MLA’s first Beef Producer Intentions survey from grassfed cattle managers Australia-wide has surprised project managers, who described the participation result as ‘super strong.’

The most plausible explanation for that is that industry members clearly recognise the importance of reliable herd data, for planning and management purposes.

As explained in this earlier article, the first beef producer survey launched late last year comes in response to the shelving of ABS’s former herd statistical data collection. This leaves an enormous knowledge gap.

There has been considerable industry debate about herd size over the past few years – some claiming numbers are over-reported, and others, under. Much of this has been based on extrapolations from secondary statistical evidence, such as slaughter numbers.

Considerable processing will be required to make sure the data from the first survey conducted in December is ‘clean’, Beef Central was told. That’s because of a couple of factors:

• The sheer number of responses – well above 3700 producers took part, and
• The fact that this is the first of a new series of surveys over coming years, meaning its important to get the initial data-set right

The strong level of producer participation means that all regions and producer sizes will have data that is statistically reliable, and aligned with the beef producer Levy Payer Register, project managers told Beef Central.

It’s anticipated the report will be completed by around the end of February, depending on release dates for ABS full-year 2023 data on slaughter number etc (due next week) and MLA’s annual Beef Industry Projections 2024 report.

The new beef survey will produce data on a range of topics, including:

• National and regional herd size at 31 December
• Herd genetic composition (based specifically on breeding cow genetics, not their calves, eg crossbreds)
• Producer intentions during 2024 on likely marketing and mating decisions

The survey closed on 13 December, meaning all producer responses came well after the onset of November rain last year.

Over time, future surveys will allow comparisons with earlier statistics, to gauge trends. In future years, results will be factored into MLA’s annual Industry Projections reports.

From now on, a smaller ‘touch point’ survey will be staged during each year to gauge tracking of earlier results, and changes in producer sentiment. This will happen in addition to two main annual surveys covering northern and southern calving cycles.

The new project, designed to help fill the gap in the absence of ABS herd data, is funded by MLA out of grassfed producer levies.

On the other side of the Pacific, the United States Department of Agriculture conducts an elaborate annual survey of beef herd size each year, making contact with about 35,000 producers via face-to-face, telephone and email interviews.

• Beef Central will provide a summary once the new Beef Producer Intentions report is released.