WATCH: Beef producer optimism is growing, and so will herd sizes

Picture of Natasha Lobban Natasha Lobban : Feb 5, 2025

Cattle Insights

WATCH: Beef producer optimism is growing, and so will herd sizes

Optimism and confidence continue to grow for Australian beef producers, with overall sentiment lifting significantly in the past year, according to the latest Beef Producer Intentions Survey (BPIS) from Meat & Livestock Australia.

The survey, is run three times a year by MLA, with the latest report on data collected between October and December 2024. Positive industry sentiment has lifted to 47% for this survey, compared to 11% from 12 months earlier and 34% from April 2024.

The survey spoke to more than 3,400 grassfed beef cattle producers and covers producer sentiment and intentions, herd profile, breed demographics, sales channels, and expected sales for 2025.

“Producer sentiment has lifted across all states compared to last year,” Manager for Market Information at MLA, Stephen Bignell, said.

“For example, positive sentiment in Queensland has lifted to 59 points and New South Wales sentiment has also lifted to 51 points.

“Strong sentiment between states reflects the better conditions and prices contributing to the improved outlook, leading to improved producer sentiment and intentions over the next 12 months.”

At the producer level, there is an overall intention to increase the on-farm grassfed adult beef cattle herd in the next 12 months with:

45% indicating they would increase their herd size
16% indicating it would remain unchanged; and
39% indicating they would decrease their herd size.

“This represents another lift in intentions from the last BPIS survey in April 2024 and from 12 months earlier,” Mr Bignell said.

“While the results do not indicate producers have all shifted to a rebuild focus, there has been a noticeable shift away from herd reductions.”

When asked about their reasons for the expected increase in herd, producers cited restocking / rebuilding (36%), expanding operations (30%), expectations of good seasonal conditions (26%) and expectations of strong market conditions (18%) as their reasons.

When asked about their intended methods to increase their herd, producers cited the retention of more heifers than normal (53%), the purchase of more steers (19%) and purchase of more breeding heifers (13%) as their top three approaches.

The report also assesses online transactions and intentions.

"What we can see is that online transactions for cow calf producers have remained very strong," Mr Bignell said.

"Online transactions remain the fourth biggest channel for transactions behind direct to processors, feed lots and sale yards.

"There has been extreme growth and there is extreme use of online platforms for southern producers. It's around 5 % of all transactions are through online platforms."