Pasture Livestock - Beef
Beef
Beef Industry Overview
The Beef Cattle Farming industry is one of Australia’s larger agricultural industries. It is estimated to represent about 20% of the revenue in combined agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries. Although average consumption of beef (per person) has declined over recent decades, largely in favour of chicken meat consumption, it remains relatively high. Per capita consumption of beef in Australia is around 32 kilograms per capita.
Australia’s beef industry is dominated by large scale production and processing facilities developed to service domestic and export markets. Beef industry revenue declined during the early 2000s to reach a revenue trough of $9.08 billion in 2012-13. It has rebounded in recent years to reach an estimated $13.41 billion in 2016-17. Victoria’s share of this production value is about 18.4% or 2.47 billion. Over the same period (2012-13 to 2016-17), the number of farm enterprises in Australia involved in beef farming has decreased slightly from 37,835 to 37,100.
Strong demand for Australian beef in overseas markets has been a major contributor to the industry’s recent, and projected, revenue growth. Increasing meat consumption arising from higher incomes in overseas markets is expected to boost industry demand. If the projection is correct, it will keep cattle prices relatively high.
Beef Cattle producers compete on
Price. This is a major basis for competition. The farmgate and/or saleyard price for cattle reflects prices in international markets. Prices also vary inversely with supply and directly with demand conditions overseas.
Quality. Efforts are being made to differentiate cattle on the basis of quality. For instance, Australia has begun to market beef based upon the rearing of cattle in a fully organic manner. This is one method of differentiating Australian cattle from overseas competitors. Feedlots are being used to deliver specific beef meat attributes to some markets, especially Japan.
Promotion and Branding. More producers are differentiating product on the basis of production systems, animal welfare, and other marketing points of difference (such as region of origin and food safety). This reflects a shift from generic commodity based marketing.
Health and Dietary Value. Beef competes with other meats by promoting its health credentials. Consumer concerns over fat and cholesterol have led beef cattle farmers to focus on the production of leaner animals, mainly for domestic markets.
Exchange rates. As a globally traded commodity, beef producers compete with foreign beef cattle producers. Factors that influence this competitiveness include exchange rates, trade barriers, and overseas supply levels.
Beef Sector in G21 Region
The beef cattle industry is Victoria's most geographically extensive industry and production occurs across all regions of Victoria, but the most significant regions are the Western District, Gippsland, Ovens Murray and Goulburn regions. In G21 region, there are beef farming enterprises in every local government area (including Queenscliffe).
There are 15,252 agricultural businesses carrying 2.4 million beef cattle in Victoria, representing 9% of the national beef herd, and only Queensland (12.6 million) and New South Wales (5.6 million) carry higher populations of beef cattle than Victoria. About 85% of the Victorian farms were specialised beef cattle farms and 15% were mixed beef/sheep and/or cropping farms. The number of beef cattle in Victoria has fluctuated between 2 and 3 million over the past 30 years. The average Victorian beef farm area has increased from less than 300 hectares in the 1960s to around 350 hectares currently. In G21 region the typical beef farming operation is much smaller, averaging around 40-50 hectares in the east of the region and around 70-80 hectares in the west (Colac Otway Shire).
In 2014-15 there were an estimated 726 beef farming enterprises in the G21 region, carrying 78,902 head of cattle. This represents 5.1% of all beef production enterprises in Victoria and 3.4% of beef cattle. However, only 33% of these enterprises had a total estimated value of agricultural operations (EVAO) of more than $40,000 per annum, with 67% having an EVAO of $5,000 to $40,000 per annum. This implies that fewer than 240 beef farming enterprises are of a ‘commercial scale’.
Feedlots are increasing in number, and about 7% of the beef cattle herd is grown out or finished in feedlots. Victorian feedlots predominantly produce beef for the domestic market, with shorter feeding regimes and higher turnover rates. There are approximately 50 specialised beef cattle feedlots in Victoria of which 31 are accredited under the National Feedlot Accreditation Scheme.
In the G21 region, listed beef feedlots include Te Mania Angus, Connewarre and Araluen Pastoral, Birregurra, and there are 8 listed beef feedlots in the wider regional municipalities of Corangamite, Moyne, and Glenelg. There are 21 licensed abattoirs supervised by PrimeSafe with a further 18 licensed abattoirs supervised by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) in Victoria. Four are located in metropolitan Melbourne, while the rest are spread across regional centres. These abattoirs are not all involved in beef processing; some are dedicated to sheep processing and some are multi-species. The DAWR supervised beef processing abattoir in the G21 region is MC Herd Pty Ltd in Corio. Midfield Meats in Warrnambool, is another beef abattoir servicing the G21 region. Also servicing small and medium growers in G21 region is the Primesafe supervised Koallah Farm abattoir, in the nearby Corangamite Shire, with an objective to provide contract processing for emerging growers and grower groups.
Beef meat value adding companies in G21 include
Challenge Meats, Breakwater. This company is a wholly owned subsidiary of MC Herd, which further processes beef, pork, lamb and chicken for sales to other manufacturers and the food service sector.
Farm Foods, Breakwater, is an innovative business in the fresh meat manufacturing sector. Farm Foods has grown rapidly to become a significant manufacturing enterprise that focuses on adding value to red meat products making sausage, burgers, mince, meatloaf and meat snacks.
G21 Beef Value Chain
Additional Information.
Biosecurity, Agriculture Victoria: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/biosecurity
Livestock and animals, Agriculture Victoria: https://www.vff.org.au/fact-sheet-category/farm-safety/
Farm safety, Victorian Farmers Federation: https://www.vff.org.au/fact-sheet-category/farm-safety/
Farm management, Agriculture Victoria: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/farm-management
Climate and weather, Agriculture Victoria: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/climate-and-weather
Animal health, welfare and biosecurity, Victorian Farmers Federation, StockSense: https://www.vff.org.au/project/stock-sense/
Identification and traceability system for cattle, sheep and goats, National Livestock Information System: https://www.nlis.com.au/
Report roaming livestock or a dog attacking livestock to the City of Greater Geelong: https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/pets/task/item/8d9be4359405bda.aspx . If it is an emergency phone 03 5272 5272.
Report roaming livestock or a dog attacking livestock to the Colac Otway Shire: https://www.colacotway.vic.gov.au/My-property/Pets-animals-livestock/Pest-problem-animals. If it is an emergency phone 03 5232 9400.
Report roaming livestock or a dog attacking livestock to the Surf Coast Shire: https://www.surfcoast.vic.gov.au/About-us/Council/Laws-and-regulations/Animal-laws . If it is an emergency phone 03 5261 0600.
Report roaming livestock or a dog attacking livestock to the Golden Plains Shire: https://www.goldenplains.vic.gov.au/resident/pets-and-animals/livestock If it is an emergency phone 03 5220 7111.
G21 AgriCollective acknowledges that much of the material presented in this profile and the links is general in nature. If you have a specific question related to G21 region small-scale sheep and lamb marketing please email info@theagricollective.com.au and we will provide a response either by return email or phone call.