MAINTAINING market diversity was critical to helping north west Queensland’s resurgence after consecutive years of drought, a North Queensland beef industry leader believes.
Speaking at the AgForce roadshow in Hughenden last week – a day before parts around north west Queensland were soaked in storms – northern president Russell Lethbridge said all markets were valuable to producers, with live export a saving grace in recent times.
“Every market available to us is important and the live export market is one of those spokes in the wheel,” Mr Lethbridge said.
“The drought has hindered our ability to move forward and build on the beef herd up here but thank god for the live export trade that has been able to take light cattle.
“People have been able to move cattle out of paddocks devoid of grass.
“I would say northern cattle have been going more to live export than on backgrounder country and slaughter because the backgrounder country hasn’t had any rain.”
Mr Lethbridge, who is AgForce North regional president, said the region was in the early stages of rebuilding, and market diversity had enabled producers to reinvest in their operations.
“People are putting in fences, waters, enhancing genetics and breeds...all of a sudden there is a little bit of cash to spend which wasn’t there before,” Mr Lethbridge said.
Notwithstanding the properties in the region that are entering four or five consecutive years of drought, Mr Lethbridge, who breeds cattle at Einasleigh, said he was excited about the opportunities presented and where the region was headed.
“There are areas around that haven’t had any relief rain at all so they are going into their fourth, sometimes fifth year of drought,” he said.
“There have have been some piecemeal storms that have provided some relief in some areas, and people are rebuilding.
“I’m confident that the cycle has changed away from the dry, hence these good fronts coming across from the west, that’s a bit of an indicator, and the winter rain.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel.
“It can go either way and we need a very good, long wet season.”
Mr Lethbridge and his wife Donna run breeders on Werrington Station, 2.5 hours north of Hughenden, and have backgrounding country between Alpha and Tambo.
It’s the difference in the development in these two regions – northwest and central Queensland – that motivates Mr Lethbridge to continue to fight for the north’s “time in the sun”.
“Just recently Donna and I went to South Australia and having been down there I have come back inspired by what a certain level of development can do to some country,” Mr Lethbridge said.
“They don’t have any water nor land which is a scratch on what we have here just outside Hughenden, and yet currently they are cutting 10 tonnes of oaten hay to the hectare and up to 8t of barley to a ha.
“I’m not talking about removing every last tree or damming every river in North Queensland but if we don’t have a level of that sort of access available to us then I’m sorry we will stand still.”
Mr Lethbridge said prospects such as an abattoir at Hughenden were exciting for the region.
“If that sort of thing happens there is a huge amount of infrastructure that needs to go into place to support that,” Mr Lethbridge said.
“For example, continuity of supply of cattle to be killed and an irrigation precinct would need to be developed to have a 15-20,000 head feedlot to supplement the flow of cattle into that abattoir.
“Development builds off development.
“I think the north is going to have its day and we have to make damn sure it can have its day without too much red tape.”
