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Business Environment Profiles - Australia

Beef and veal production

Published: 11 September 2024

Key Metrics

Beef and veal production

Total (2025)

2457 Kilotonne

Annualized Growth 2020-25

0.7 %

Definition of Beef and veal production

This report analyses the volume of beef and veal produced in Australia. Beef and veal are produced from beef cattle sold by feedlots and pasture farmers to abattoirs. Beef and veal production is measured in kilotonnes and represents the carcass weight of total beef and veal produced in Australia. This includes the carcass equivalent of canned meats. Data for this report is gathered from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

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Recent Trends – Beef and veal production

IBISWorld expects beef and veal production to grow by 2.3% during 2024-25, to 2,456.6 kilotonnes. Domestic production volumes will increase as a larger percentage of the Australian cattle herd becomes mature and market-ready. This will come as a reward to cattle farmers for the beef herd rebuilding efforts conducted between 2020-21 and 2022-23. Increasing slaughter capacity will also allow production volumes to grow, as more processing capacity projects are set to become operational during 2024-25. Growing export prices for Australian beef and veal will incentivise an expansion in production. Prices will face upward pressure following US demand growth for Australian beef in 2024-25, caused by lower US beef production and reduced supply from other nations. Only Canada and Mexico have better trading conditions with US markets. However, beef production in Canada is expected to fall, which will increase demand for Australian exports. While Brazil is a serious competitor to Australia, their exports have been subject to a 26.4% tariff over the first half of 2024-25, due to fulfilling their annual free-trade quota in February 2024. This has reduced the competitiveness of Brazil's beef exports in the US market and has increased US demand for Australian beef during the first six months of 2024-25.

In 2019-20, dry conditions, particularly across parts of New South Wales and Queensland, drove slaughter rates higher as feed costs rose, leading to a decline in the size of Australia's beef cattle herd. Above-average rainfall over the three years through 2022-23 then improved grazing conditions for farmers, causing the maintenance cost of cattle herds to be more manageable. This drove herd rebuilding activities, supporting a recovery in the size of Australia's beef cattle herd and restricting beef and veal production over that period. In 2023-24, tariffs on Australian beef and veal exports to the US were eliminated under the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement. This gave Australia a significant competitive advantage against other large beef-exporting countries, particularly Uruguay and Brazil. The free trade agreement caused export demand to spike, necessitating a 19.2% increase in beef and veal production volumes in 2023-24. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts beef and veal production to rise at a compound annual rate of 0.7% over the five years through 2024-25.

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5-Year Outlook – Beef and veal production

IBISWorld forecasts beef and veal production to fall by 2.1% in 2025-26, to 2,403.9 kilotonnes. T...

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