Beef graziers hunt for processor availability amid high slaughter rates

Beef production is on track to break 10-year records, but small-scale producers are struggling to find available processors.

Beef production is on track to break records as processors work to absorb the increase, but small-scale beef producers are struggling to find available slots.

StoneX Australian livestock and commodities manager Ripley Atkinson said there would be continued steady growth in processor throughput this year, with year-to-date figures up 10 per cent, or 225,000 head.

He believed beef production would break a 10-year record this year, with survey results to be released in November.

“I expect this year we’ll see slaughter volumes up to 9m, which will be the highest since 2015,” he said.

“We’ve just got a lot more cattle in the country. Processors can only deal with so much, if they could kill more they would.”

FOCUS: Long View Farm Michael is the owner of Long View Farm and Meats, "one of few" farmgate producers left as he described it. Pictured: Michael De Kort on his farm with his cattle.

For Long View Farm and Meats owner Michael De Kort, he would be sending his steers to market for the first time due to processor unavailability.

He manages a butcher shop at his farmgate, with traditional-style butchering.

“If I could offer beef tomorrow I would. I’ve got my steers here and they’re going to market in a few weeks, but I would put them through the shop if I could,” he said.

“One door shuts, another door will open, I’m sure it will create an opportunity for someone to create a micro-abattoir.”

However, Mr De Kort was able to find a market for his lambs.

“The lambs go to Meredith Dairy. Without that I wouldn’t be able to do paddock to plate,” he said.

“Now I produce enough for the whole year, which means I breed differently and I lamb nearly three times to produce the lamb for the year.”