Australia: Livestock and Products Annual
Australia’s cattle and beef production continues to be impacted by the drought in key production areas. The subsequent lack of feed has resulted in high cattle turnoff and destocking in 2019, and subsequently higher slaughter rates. Because of reduced cattle numbers, FAS/Canberra forecasts Australian beef production in 2020 to decline by 11 percent from 2019 and exports to decline 15 percent. The outlook is still highly dependent on spring rains, as a break in the drought could accelerate herd rebuilding, and continued drought could result in continued destocking.
