TheBeefSite Newsletter - 21 December 2011

TheBeefSite Weekly Newsletter

Wednesday 21st December 2011

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Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: 2011 - A Cracking Year For Beef Producers?

Both beef and cattle prices have, in general, been on a high this year. Global beef trade is strong, with the US, Europe and Australia all reporting booming markets.

Prices have increased by 26 per cent in some countries and tight supplies are expected to keep prices strong in the coming year.

Foot and mouth disease hit Asia hard at the start of the year - particularly China and South Korea. In both countries the effects of the disease will continue to take their toll in the New Year, with breeding herds down and a heavy dependence on imports.

In Australia, live cattle exports to Indonesia closed down between May and July, after undercover footage showed the inhumane treatment of Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs. This has caused serious problems for the industry that exports 60 per cent of all cattle to Indonesia.

The use of antibiotics in animal production has also caused a great deal of concern this year. With the suspected risk of increased resistance, there have been calls in the EU and the US to limit their use. The EU authorities are actively looking to reduce antibiotic use, with governments setting clear targets.

However, the US Food and Drug administration has never said that the use of antibiotics in animals needs to be reduced, rather that withdrawing them would be too expensive.

Today, the EU released estimates stating that real agricultural income per worker has increased in 2011.

The increase in this value is put down to strong commodity prices for crops and livestock. However - income does not relate to profit and agricultural input costs are expected to rise by 10 per cent in real terms.

There are ever increasing pressures on the cattle industry, with demands from the public, government and industry ranging from animal welfare to improved efficiency. Although there are strong prices, input costs will continue to rise squeezing margins and producers will have to look hard at how to reduce costs of production next year.

TheCattleSite and 5M Publishing wish everyone a very merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

The next newsletter will be sent out on Wednesday 4 January.

Charlotte Johnston

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 5 new features this week:

How Did A Live Export Ban Affect Australia?
Live cattle exports to Indonesia fell by 30 per cent between July and September 2011. With 60 per cent of Australian cattle exported to Indonesia, Charlotte Johnston, TheCattleSite editor speaks to Lach McKinnon, CEO of Australian Livestock Exporters' Council about how the live export ban earlier this year affected Australian cattle exports.

Strategies To Achieve High Marbling
A recent Beef CRC project led by Dr Paul Greenwood, Principal Research Scientist at New South Wales Primary Industries, has sought to determine if it is possible to increase marbling through the strategic use of high energy supplements immediately post-weaning.

Soiled Water - A Valuable Resource
Researchers at Teagasc Moorepark , in Ireland, have found that dairy soiled water/dilute slurry is a valuable nutrient source that can help increase farm profitability and minimise environmental impacts when managed correctly.

Agricultural Commodities: Beef & Veal
The Australian weighted average saleyard price for beef cattle is forecast to remain relatively high in 2011/12 at an average of 326 cents a kilogram (dressed weight), according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) December Agricultural Commodities report.

Genus - Value through science and genomics

Company News

Rainbow Calf Scour 5 Released
BELGIUM - Bio-X Diagnostics has just released Rainbow Calf Scour 5 on the market. This quick test for detecting the main causes of calf scour uses vertical-flow immunochromatography for reliable diagnosis of the causal pathogen in just 10 minutes.

Global Beef Cattle Industry News