Producers in parts of southern Australia are selling stock early due to water concerns

It’s only September but a shortage of stock water is leading some producers to turn off cattle and sheep early and at lighter weights. See the details.

A shortage of stock water is leading producers to turn off cattle and sheep early and at lighter weights, forcing them to take lower returns on their annual drops.

Meat and Livestock Australia said this week that its National Livestock Reporting Service staff are reporting livestock are being turned off early for this reason in areas as diverse as Wagga Wagga in NSW, down to Ballarat in central Victoria.

MLA market analyst Emily Tan said lighter weight cattle were being sold at Wagga Wagga and Ballarat due to water concerns.

“At the moment it seems to be in localised areas, and has not had a huge impact on prices overall as a lot of cattle are going from Victoria to Queensland where things are really strong,” Ms Tan said.

Cattle drinking in dam near Bendigo. Picture: Zoe Phillips

At Wagga Wagga on Monday, NLRS reporter Leanne Dax said dry weather across parts of the supply area were “creating challenges for some vendors, with water becoming an issue”.

Ms Tan said more broadly, concerns over pastures and hay supplies were dampening the young cattle markets and leading to early weaning and selling of lambs.

“There is concern about water availability in dams and storages and in seasonal conditions in general.”

Angus Australia extension manger Jake Phillips said the concerns over the dry season were impacting producers on many levels in parts of southern Australia.

“(Some) bull sale clearances have come back, and that is a reflection of the season,” he said.

The season had “kept a lid” on what could have been a much stronger selling season for seedstock producers, he said.

On stock drinking water, Mr Phillips said producers in the Glenelg Shire area, in Victoria’s far west, were facing difficulties with little run off to fill or even top-up dams.

In South Australia, meanwhile, concerns were mostly around the failure of hay crops.

“Cereal crops are failing and people are wondering if they will get them baled at all, so the concern is where is next season’s hay going to come from,” he said.

Meanwhile, along the state border, producers have had cattle away on agistment for up to six months, from regions spanning from Mount Gambier in the far south of SA, right up along the border to Pooncarie, with many farmers now putting sheep onto failed cereal crops.