WHILE the number of cattle to be culled in New Zealand’s bid to eradicate a bacterium disease represents only a small portion of its annual beef slaughter, the fact it will mostly go as lean trimmings to the United States is causing some nervousness, both to the Kiwis and here.
More grinding beef pushed towards a key market to both Australia and NZ, at a time when production in both countries, and the US itself, is lifting is always a concern, analysts say.
The NZ government recently announced plans to cull as many as 150,000 head of mostly dairy cattle in order to rid itself of Mycoplasma bovis. The disease causes serious production issues in dairy cattle but does not present any food safety or human health issues.
It is, in fact, present in all major dairy and beef farming countries, with NZ the only one attempting to eradicate rather than manage it.
Rabobank NZ analysts said the number of cattle to be culled represented approximately only 5pc of New Zealand’s annual beef slaughter - 2.4m cattle were slaughtered in 2016/17 plus 1.8m bobby veal.
Given it was also occurring over a prolonged period of time, it was unlikely to create a significant impact on the beef schedule, they said.
However, this could change if the timing of the bulk of the cows being culled was compounded with either seasonal influx from the beef industry or adverse weather conditions.
The cull is likely to have some impact on killing space, at times prolonging waiting times to get stock killed particularly in the South Island, the analysts reported.
Producers in NZ are putting measures in place to protect properties and say the cull might also see more farms move into beef finishing.
Indeed, seedstock operators report bulls sales across NZ over the past month have been very strong - up on last year, which itself was a record year - indicating a growing interest in beef cows.
The NZ Ministry for Primary Industries Situation and Outlook report, released last month, has beef production at 645,000 tonnes this year, up slightly from 2017.
The US represents 44 per cent of export revenue, with most of the trade lean manufacturing beef. Exports to the US have increased 9.7pc in the year ended March 2018.
Chairman of big NZ branded beef program Angus Pure, Tim Brittain, said beef farmers were in very good heart
“In NZ, beef and sheep tend to be run together. Beef has been sold albeit at prices down a little on last year but lamb has been very strong, so together they are in reasonable shape,” he said.
There was, however, a degree of nervousness about the US market, he said.
“It is the one we are most dependent on, although not to the same extent we were 15 years ago,” Mr Brittain said.
“The cull, coupled with the drought in Australia, has the potential to make a lot more beef available for this market, which is likely to drive down prices, even though the US seems to be absorbing a fair bit still.
“The situation here price wise has been softened a bit at this stage by some weakening of the NZ dollar.”
Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
