Aussie beef exports up

THE rain over the last week has been in two parts with 25 to 50 mm recorded in most of the North West and North East and parts of the Northern Midlands but it very quickly got back to 10-15mm in most of the Northern Midlands and then unfortunately dropped right back to almost nothing in the southern regions of the state.

Interstate, there were also good rains in many parts of Victoria and NSWalthough some big grazing areas missed out.

The rains in Victoria had an immediate effect on numbers into the saleyards with only 5,500 lambs penned at Bendigo and cattle numbers at both Wagga and Mortlake dropping as a result of local rains.

Here in Tasmania, the autumn in the North West and North East is in very good shape but down south feeding of livestock is going to be a long few months.

THE latest beef export figures just released make for interesting reading.

Australia’s beef exports are running 36 per cent higher than 12 months ago and processors surge towards filling the China quota of 205,000 tonnes with it being about half full already.

The figures released on Monday indicate that Australia have exported 29,593 tonnes of beef to China in April, bringing the total so far this year to 106,145 tonnes which is already up 36 per cent on this time last year.

Our biggest customer is the US which took 40,999 tonnes in April and so far in 2026 has taken 146,720 tonnes which is 13 per cent more than 2025.

One of the interesting points being discussed is what will Brazil and Australia do when their Chinese quotas are filled.

Rabobank believes that the US will take up the slack with the production in Brazil expected to fall slightly which may mean their second half exports will be less.

They also think the our markets into South Korea and Japan have the ability to grow which is good news because these two are our more lucrative markets.

The other takeaway from these record figures is that it certainly appears that there is no herd rebuild taking place as the cow kill continues at a high rate.