Australia: Red meat industry's state of play

The Australian red meat industry demonstrated its strength and resilience in 2020. Early in the year, widespread rains occurred across southern and eastern Australia, breaking the 2017–19 drought – Australia’s worst on record. Simultaneously, the COVID-19 virus spread across the world, causing economic recessions in most countries, supply chain disruptions and social restrictions. The improved seasonal conditions underpinned high livestock prices and signaled the start of a national herd and flock rebuild. In March 2020 lamb, sheep and cattle prices hit new records as producers sought to restock their properties after years of drought-induced destocking. This rise in demand occurred at a time when producers were holding onto more breeding stock to rebuild their inventories, which limited supply and forced prices higher, reducing numbers being processed. This translated into lower beef, mutton and lamb production volumes in 2020. As positive seasonal conditions have persisted into ...