Checking out China

World-wide impact

HEAT and limited rainfall in parts of Europe continue to place corn and oilseed production under pressure. Reduced European output would support global feedgrain and vegetable-oil prices and could slow any expected relief for Australian livestock and dairy businesses buying imported protein meals. Tasmania is a long way from the affected paddocks, but international crop losses eventually appear in local ration quotes, particularly through soybean meal, canola meal and compound feed.

Live cattle slump

AUSTRALIAN live-cattle exports fell almost 30 per cent in the first half of 2026 as high cattle prices, rising operating costs, an earlier Indonesian buying period and a weaker rupiah reduced demand. Tasmania is not part of the northern live-export trade, but fewer cattle leaving Australia can alter national supply patterns and processor competition over time.

Global beef markets

MARKET analysts continue to point to tightening supplies in several major beef-producing countries, with the United States rebuilding from a reduced herd and strong international demand for quality beef. Australian producers remain well placed, although currency movements, tariffs and consumer resistance to high retail prices could interrupt the rise. For Tasmania, the key is whether grassfed and verified production systems capture premiums rather than simply following the commodity market.

Huge land deal

A 1.29-million-hectare South Australian pastoral aggregation is under contract to Adelaide businessman Khalil “Charlie” Shahin, following its sale by the MacLachlan family’s Jumbuck Pastoral. The scale is almost impossible to translate into Tasmanian terms, but the transaction is another reminder that agricultural investment ranges from tightly held family farms to landholdings measured in millions of hectares.

Monsoon worries

INDIA’S remarkable recovery in summer crop planting is facing another test after its weather bureau forecast below-average monsoon rain during August. July rainfall helped cut the national sowing deficit from almost 25 per cent in late June to less than 5 per cent, allowing farmers to catch up on rice, cotton, soybean and maize planting.

However, August rain is expected to fall below 94 per cent of the long-term average as El Niño strengthens. India supplies about 40 per cent of internationally traded rice and is the world’s largest vegetable-oil importer.

Maize feels the heat

FRANCE’S maize crop could be its smallest in half a century after repeated heatwaves and drought sharply reduced yield prospects. European grain forecasters have cut their estimate for the European Union crop by almost 8 per cent to 52.7 million tonnes, the lowest since 2007, with France and Hungary suffering some of the heaviest losses.

Some French farmers are cutting non-irrigated maize early for livestock fodder.