As the Australian beef industry returns to some sort of
‘normal’ following the post-drought years and the marked
price drop which followed, industry news is dominated by
high slaughter rates, a large number of cattle in saleyards
and feedlots, and prices which sit far off the highs of a
few years ago. Given the widely held view that a return
to an Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) of 1,200c/
kg is unlikely in the short-term, farm business profits are
increasingly focused on margins – what age and weight
to sell from farm to achieve the greatest return, what
channels to sell through, and what portion of the final
retail price is being delivered back to the producer.
