At last Wednesday’s producer forum, run by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) to enlighten farmers and agents of their obligations to LPA accreditation for the new biosecurity documentation, many questions were asked.
It came to light at this meeting, that all producers, in theory, should all be LPA accredited, and have to fill out a biosecurity questionnaire. However, it appears that a producer can answer “NO” to all questions if they so desire, and continue to sell regardless. Such was the lack of knowledge, integrity and communication of this MLA organized meeting.
In my opinion, a producer cannot legally declare themselves “bio-secure” by this self-accessed declaration.
Yes, there will be auditors that will check your paperwork, but with only four accredited auditors currently in the system it could take years, if ever, for a producer to be audited.
So in the meantime, any producer could tick the boxes, but not follow the criteria, and continue to sell non-bio-secure cattle.
How will all of this impact prices? Good question, because, processors I have spoken with don’t even know, or understand the new system, let alone consider implementing any potential pricing policy at this stage.
However, prices this week have varied, some dearer, some firm, and some cheaper.
Pakenham, Monday, was the most consistent in trade cattle prices, in an increased size yarding. Grain fed steers and heifers sold from 295c for heavy steers, over 500kgs, to 332c/kg for quality Charolais yearlings. This was similar to the previous week, for cattle from the same breeder.
Bullocks sold to 296c/kg at Pakenham, which matches that of Leongatha last Wednesday. However, elsewhere, prices were mostly from 270-288c/kg lwt.
What can we expect in the near future? While most markets are in decline for numbers, Wagga Wagga, Monday, could be the indicator. Continuing dry conditions to the north, influenced a much bigger yarding of 4800 head, double that of the previous week.
Consequently, prices were cheaper, and this could be the future for us too. It is very interesting that there are bushfires around Sydney, while Victoria suffers from some extremes of winter temperatures.
The price quotes could be a bit inaccurate as the regular MLA market reporter was on leave, and just over 50 per cent of the market was recorded.
As spring has commenced, a few more vealers came to market, and prices eased mostly 4-5c/kg. Top of the range was 351c/kg at Warragul, a week ago, and around 332c/kg this week, so far. The much larger supply of yearling steers at Wagga Wagga aided stronger competition, and some steers sold to dearer trends to resockers. Prices were mostly from 285-335c/kg lwt.
Despite an increase in the supply of cows, demand was stronger from Monday, which saw good quality beef cows sell to 264c/kg. Most sold between 235&258c, being 2-5c/kg dearer on average. Lean, 1 score cows sold mostly from 165-215c/kg, but price trends varied across the markets.