Australia – cattle kill down sharply

Australia’s cattle kill was down a massive 36% to 544,000 head in the first seven weeks of 2021 compared with the same period last year. Data from Meat & Livestock Australia shows farmers were paid record prices equivalent to €4.44/kg for steers.

US – maize and soya plantings to rise

US farmers are set to plant 37.2m ha of maize and 36.4m ha of soya beans over the coming season, which is an increase from last year’s plantings. While 2021 crop output is set to increase, domestic demand and exports are also expected to be high.

Germany – milk production slows

For December, German milk production was down 1.1% year on year to just under 2.6bn litres. This is the third consecutive month German milk supply was down. For all of 2020, German farmers produced 31.5bn litres, which is pretty much in line with 2019 production levels.

Brazil – beef exports slow in February

Brazilian beef exports for the month of February have been well behind last year and are currently down about 11% year on year. For the first three weeks of February, Brazilian beef exports are almost 40,000t behind where they were for the same period last year.