December 10, 2025 • 3 mins
Our Australian correspondent talks about a live cattle trade running out of ships and why a 5-10% recovery in the US beef herd would pose a big problem for the Lucky Country.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's there. Elsie correspondent Chris Russell, based out of Sidney. Chris,
the live cattle trade could run out of ships. This
is a bigger threat to the industry than green politics.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, well, I think this is what we've been worried about.
The Albanese government particularly in doing more damage to the
live cattle trade. Remember they had that big ban in
twenty twelve, which as there been subject of a massive
court case, and there is constant pressure on live cattle,
and yet that is the lifeblood for those northern cattle.
First of all, they're all bos Indicus cattle because that's
(00:34):
what they want in Indonesia and these places. And secondly,
you know their alternative is to ship them all down
to narrow Court and Wangorada and over to Delby to sell,
which is thousands of kilometers and of course a that
would flood those markets and be there's a lot of
money being spent on diesel for that. But they're saying
that the threat is not so much about the politics
(00:55):
of it, but it's about the fact that we would
just no more ships being made for cutting these animals.
It's about fifty million dollars a copy to make a
live cattle ship. There are none currently being built there.
A number of them have now gone out of business,
so actually finding ships to cut these cattle up to
Indonesia is getting increasingly difficult. The other problem is the
(01:16):
increasing amount of welfare infrastructure that's having to be sent.
They all have to have now bets that travel with them,
and the restrictions on which Avatise can do the slaughtering.
And someone means that some people saying this is getting
too hard. So could well be the demise of that
industry comes about because of infrastructure costs and over bureaucratic
demands rather than the pure of green politics.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Jaman A five to ten percent recovery in the US
beef herd would pose a big problem for Australia and
no doubt for New Zealand. But is it likely Chris Russell,
that we'll see that recovery anytime soon in the US
be fird.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, according to the Ravo Bank over they say that
it's certainly not going to be happening, probably in the
next twelve months, so that's not a big issue. But
the United States beef's deficit still stands at over a
million tons of what they need and that's going to
really set us up for next year. But we should
(02:18):
start thinking about what happens when all those days are
over to five to ten percent increase in the beef heod.
Remember they're at nineteen fifty nine levels at the moment,
so historic lows. But you know when that does happen,
where are we going to sell all those stock? We built,
all this infrastructure. We have one and a half million
animals on feed now or being raised, and there's no
(02:41):
doubt one day we're going to have to actually face
that in the future. And I think that's a question
we all need to think about. It's just getting rid
of the volume is never a problem. But the problem
is how are we going to get the same sort
of money we're getting for it at the moment, because
the Americans will take anything we can make over there
to subsidize their increasing demand for hamburgers. I believe that
(03:07):
last year Australian cattle made was involved in making up
about six million hamburgers in the US. It's a lot
of hamburgers.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Okay, Chris, got to go, Thanks for your time. We'll
catch you for the last time in twenty twenty five
next week and you can tell us who your Ossie
egg Person of the Year is.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
No worries
He's there. Elsie correspondent Chris Russell, based out of Sidney. Chris,
the live cattle trade could run out of ships. This
is a bigger threat to the industry than green politics.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, well, I think this is what we've been worried about.
The Albanese government particularly in doing more damage to the
live cattle trade. Remember they had that big ban in
twenty twelve, which as there been subject of a massive
court case, and there is constant pressure on live cattle,
and yet that is the lifeblood for those northern cattle.
First of all, they're all bos Indicus cattle because that's
(00:34):
what they want in Indonesia and these places. And secondly,
you know their alternative is to ship them all down
to narrow Court and Wangorada and over to Delby to sell,
which is thousands of kilometers and of course a that
would flood those markets and be there's a lot of
money being spent on diesel for that. But they're saying
that the threat is not so much about the politics
(00:55):
of it, but it's about the fact that we would
just no more ships being made for cutting these animals.
It's about fifty million dollars a copy to make a
live cattle ship. There are none currently being built there.
A number of them have now gone out of business,
so actually finding ships to cut these cattle up to
Indonesia is getting increasingly difficult. The other problem is the
(01:16):
increasing amount of welfare infrastructure that's having to be sent.
They all have to have now bets that travel with them,
and the restrictions on which Avatise can do the slaughtering.
And someone means that some people saying this is getting
too hard. So could well be the demise of that
industry comes about because of infrastructure costs and over bureaucratic
demands rather than the pure of green politics.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Jaman A five to ten percent recovery in the US
beef herd would pose a big problem for Australia and
no doubt for New Zealand. But is it likely Chris Russell,
that we'll see that recovery anytime soon in the US
be fird.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, according to the Ravo Bank over they say that
it's certainly not going to be happening, probably in the
next twelve months, so that's not a big issue. But
the United States beef's deficit still stands at over a
million tons of what they need and that's going to
really set us up for next year. But we should
(02:18):
start thinking about what happens when all those days are
over to five to ten percent increase in the beef heod.
Remember they're at nineteen fifty nine levels at the moment,
so historic lows. But you know when that does happen,
where are we going to sell all those stock? We built,
all this infrastructure. We have one and a half million
animals on feed now or being raised, and there's no
(02:41):
doubt one day we're going to have to actually face
that in the future. And I think that's a question
we all need to think about. It's just getting rid
of the volume is never a problem. But the problem
is how are we going to get the same sort
of money we're getting for it at the moment, because
the Americans will take anything we can make over there
to subsidize their increasing demand for hamburgers. I believe that
(03:07):
last year Australian cattle made was involved in making up
about six million hamburgers in the US. It's a lot
of hamburgers.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Okay, Chris, got to go, Thanks for your time. We'll
catch you for the last time in twenty twenty five
next week and you can tell us who your Ossie
egg Person of the Year is.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
No worries
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