Beef
1 September, 2026
Record year for beef production
AUSTRALIA’S beef industry has delivered a record financial year for 2025/26.
Beef production reached 2.985 million tonnes while cattle slaughter recorded its highest financial-year total since 1978.
The latest livestock processing data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed almost 9.6 million cattle were processed during the past financial year, an increase of 8.1 per cent on the previous.
Beef production increased 8.6 per cent to a record 2.985 million tonnes.
Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) senior market information analyst, Emiliano Diaz, said the figures highlighted the strength of Australia’s cattle supply and processing sector.
“Favourable seasonal conditions over recent years expanded the national herd and supported elevated cattle availability, driving historically high processing volumes across the country,” Mr Diaz said.
“While the record result was primarily driven by strong supply conditions, the industry achieved it against a backdrop of increasingly challenging global trading conditions towards the end of the financial year.”
Mr Diaz believes demand for Australian red meat remained resilient overall, highlighting the sector’s ability to adapt and compete in a more volatile global environment.
The record financial year was capped by an exceptionally strong June quarter, with beef production reaching a new quarterly record of 780,620 tonnes.
New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland each recorded their highest quarterly beef production on record, highlighting the widespread strength of cattle supply and processing activity across Australia’s major producing regions.
Beef production also strengthened in the June quarter as exporters accelerated shipments ahead of safeguard thresholds being reached in China and Korea.
Typical seasonal patterns emerged during the June quarter, with increased slaughter numbers resulting in slightly lower carcase weights than the March quarter, while the female slaughter rate lifted as expected.
“The strength of the June quarter reflects both the depth of cattle supply and the processing sector’s ability to efficiently handle elevated throughput across Australia’s key cattle-producing states,” Mr Diaz said.
Lamb production declined at a slower rate as heavier animals drove record carcase weights.
Lamb slaughter totalled 22.075 million head (down 15.3 per cent year-on-year) while lamb production declined 11.2 per cent to 554,658 tonnes.
However, despite the reduction, the latest financial year remained the fourth-largest lamb production year on record.
The June quarter saw lamb slaughter fall 21.6 per cent to 5.286 million head, while production declined 15.7 per cent to 140,995 tonnes.
The national lamb carcase weight reached a record 26.7kg per head during the quarter.
“The lamb sector is producing fewer animals than a year ago, but record carcase weights have helped offset some of the decline in slaughter numbers,” Mr Diaz said.
Sheep supply contracted sharply throughout the 2025-26 financial year, driving the lowest annual mutton production and sheep slaughter levels since 2022.
Annual sheep slaughter fell 31.5 per cent to 8.045 million head, while mutton production declined 28.8 per cent to 209,865 tonnes.
The June quarter recorded the lowest sheep slaughter and mutton production levels since June 2021, with sheep slaughter falling 46.9 per cent (year-on-year) to 1.334 million head and mutton production declining 43.1 per cent to 34,205 tonnes.
“The sheep industry is moving through a markedly different phase of the production cycle, with lower turn-off reflecting tighter sheep availability following the elevated processing levels of recent years,” Mr Diaz said.