Outlook for Meat Bruce Bowen Manager, Agriculture & Food ABARES
Share of livestock production
Farm dependence on livestock 56% 47% 27% 33% 47% 54% 55%
Sheep flock Sheep numbers Million Proportion of ewes in flock %
Lamb exports kt China US Other
Sheep meat prices mutton lamb c/kg cwt
Cattle slaughter & prices Slaughter ‘000 head Saleyard price (right axis) c/kg cwt
Beef exports kt Japan US Korea Other
Japanese beef imports Australia Other US kt
Proportion of beef cattle sold for live export northern Australia,
Poultry and pig meat Medium term outlook Lower feed grain prices Per person consumption of poultry to increase Pig meat import growth to slow
Summary of outlook : –Saleyard lamb price: ▲ 4% –Saleyard cattle price: ▲ 5% Sheep flock ▲ 73 million Cattle herd ▲ 28.7million