AS CATTLE continue to leave Western Australia in their thousands, over 73,500 head so far this year, retailers are being urged to show their commitment to WA-grown beef and their willingness to pay for it accordingly.
After three years of terrible cropping seasons, his feedlot has been a saviour for Hyden farmer and WA Lot Feeders Association (WALFA) vice president, Trevor Hinck.
But the majority of his 3700-hectare crop has failed this year, meaning Mr Hinck has to buy-in 80 per cent of the grain used in the feedlot.
An increase in grain prices, coupled with an increase in cow-calf prices, has Mr Hinck and other WA lotfeeders looking for some solid assurity from their customers so they can invest and put cattle on feed with confidence.
It seems time will tell just how valuable WA-grown beef is to both retailers and consumers.
Mr Hinck said he was pleased that cow-calf producers were finally getting more for their efforts, and was willing to pay more to secure good-quality stock, but it would also prove challenging.
"Cow-calf producers are looking to turn-off cattle early, and we need to find a way to hold those cattle at an affordable price," Mr Hinck said.
"The cattle will reach us at lighter weights, and an April/May induction won't do, we need cattle with a relatively quick turnover.
"That's great in theory, but it's not necessarily possible.
"Although those south-west producers have had more rain than we have, relatively speaking they are in a similar position to us.
"We've been talking to cow-calf producers to see what their plan is and how we can make something work.
"It's good to see good calf prices and good grain prices, but what we now need is major retailers to acknowledge that.
"To remain sustainable and viable, these are some of the prices that we will need to stay.
"We can sustain droughts like this if we have good prices that reflect our cost of production."
Mr Hinck is currently calculating a feed budget to see how long he can feed cattle in paddocks before those paddocks begin to degenerate, for backgrounding prior to them entering the feedlot.
He said the dry season had been a good thing in one way because it seemed to be the catalyst to push prices up and kick everything into gear.
He doubted whether the same thing would have happened if the season had been a strong one.
But with the mass exodus of stock from WA, Mr Hinck said he was concerned at how the beef and sheep industry would sustain itself over the next 18 months.
"Until all sectors of the industry can sit down and talk about how we're going to get through this, there will continue to be a level of uncertainty which makes it very difficult for people doing budgets who need assurities and guarantees," Mr Hinck said.
"If I was a processor, I would be really worried with the amount of cattle and sheep going across the border.
"I'm not sure the government is even aware of what it means to the bigger picture."
Mr Hinck said for a sustainable industry in WA, the current trucking and shipping levels could not continue.
He said it was a very tough situation because the majority of WA producers could simply not hold onto their cattle and sheep due to the drought, but once stock had left WA, it could not come back.
Mr Hinck said that was precisely why, given the substantial investment involved with buying cattle and feed, he and other lotfeeders needed to see some guarantees from the retail sector that they wanted WA product and were prepared to pay for it.
If not, he said the repercussions would go beyond the feedlot sector and mean jobs lost in boning rooms, leaving a big hole in the processing industry.
"The silence from retailers has been deafening," he said.
"Maybe they don't know themselves where they're heading, but we need direction from our customers so we know where we stand and can prepare accordingly."
