Beef prices dropping
FEARS are escalating that the Gillard government’s ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia will damage the country’s entire beef industry, with southern Australian farmers already reporting a drop in prices.
Domestic cattle producers are worried the 11,000 livestock stranded by the ban will flood the local market in coming months and cause a glut for all beef products. The Victorian Farmers Federation says prices for beef have already dropped by 10c a kilogram – or 5 per cent – in anticipation of this occurring, and stock agents have reported slow sales and a softening in consumer demand.Another ALP “unintended consequences” coup.