Floods a challenge for International Livestock Exports cattle buyer

But International Livestock Exports (ILE) cattle buyer Justin Morrissey said every year throws a different challenge - and already 2023 was no exception.

"I never thought I'd see the main arterial route between Broome and Darwin washed away, along with the Fitzroy river bridge," Mr Morrissey said.

International Livestock Export leases and operates the Broome common yards, where they process their own cattle and sometimes those of other exporters.

On average 50,000 head of cattle come through the yards each year, about 85 per cent from the Kimberley and the remainder from the Pilbara and Northern Territory.

Traditionally, the northern WA live export season would run from mid April until the end of October or first week of November, with about 25 ships leaving port annually.

"We are lucky the season hasn't cranked up yet," Mr Morrissey said.

"We won't know the unknown - and what cattle are available - until it does."

Good early rains across the Kimberley, broke the season for most pastoralists in late November to early December.

However, the major flooding event has since caused significant damage and unknown cattle losses through the region.

Mr Morrissey said ILE sourced the bulk of its cattle from the Fitzroy River valley area.

He said the first shipment generally favours stations with good paddock and road access - whether it is bitumen or close bitumen frontage.

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Usually, others don't start shipping cattle until May-June when roads have opened up.

"It is always a bit of a wait and see with who gets rain and what roads are open," Mr Morrissey said.

"But obviously the big unknown at the moment is Fitzroy Crossing Bridge and what access we are going to have for road trains moving east to west.

"Road access is key for the Kimberley cattle industry once the season commences."

Another market challenge for eastern pastoralists, is the fact Wyndham port's main holding yards have been closed and there is nowhere to hold cattle in that area.

To export out of Wyndham, they need to be reliant on private properties, who have their own yard.

Additionally, with no access to Broome Common, pastoralists could be forced further afield to Darwin.

This would impose major road freight costs and additional financial pressures.

"The half-way point - whether you go to Darwin or Broome for export - is between Halls Creek and Kununurra.

"Most cattle from Hall Creek and further west, float back to Broome in any normal season.

"If pastoralists can't access the west and have to go to Darwin, they would have to pay for an extra thousand kilometres of freight heading back the other way."

While last year was a somewhat remarkable rollercoaster year for the live export trade, the demand for red meat has remained strong.

Mr Morrissey said Indonesia was still serving as the main export market and had put pressure on importers to drop the prices back.

He said - aside from the flood - the season was shaping up well, with extra rain, grass and kilograms on cattle.

However, until flood-affected properties completed a full muster, live export cattle numbers would remain unknown.

"We probably won't know the losses until May-June," Mr Morrissey said.

"I think infrastructure work and repairs are probably going to be the priority before muster programs are started."

Despite the uncertainty of numbers, Mr Morrissey said cattle could be sourced from a number of properties across the Territory, Kimberley and Pilbara to fill any gaps.

He said orders could be mixed and matched with five or six different vendors filling a boat, rather than two or three.

"ILE has been a long-term supporter of the Kimberley cattle industry and one of the oldest established exporters operating out of Broome.

"We always get around the challenges and will continue doing what we can to help people out - we really feel for the pastoralists that have losses."