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Chair's report

John Lloyd
Chair

The past 12 months presented a range of opportunities and challenges for the Australian red meat and livestock industry.

In southern Australia, severe drought conditions persisted and some regions experienced their driest year on record, forcing significant destocking and trucking of hay to feed livestock.

The industry also faced opposite conditions with major flooding events in western Queensland and northern NSW in 2025. The western Queensland flood caused stock losses above 200,000, with floodwaters covering an area of 13 million hectares and stretching into parts of the NT and NSW.

The NSW mid-north coast experienced its own broadscale disaster after more than 500mm fell in some regions and destroyed fences and infrastructure and also caused significant livestock losses.
MLA has assisted industry by ensuring levy payers have information on response, recovery and assistance, which are coordinated by State Governments.

Other areas of Australia enjoyed a reasonable season and took advantage of market conditions that – while still volatile – have generally improved over the past 12 months.

Market report

With very large production volumes, our industry exported record volumes in all categories in 2024 and this strong trend has continued in 2025 for most categories.

In FY25, Australia exported 2.37 million tonnes (mt) of red meat to 103 markets, representing the largest volume of red meat we’ve ever exported. Beef exports reached 1.44mt, lamb exports reached 363,109 tonnes (t), mutton exports reached 256,104t and goatmeat exports reached 55,486t. In FY25, 780,919 live cattle, 424,660 sheep and 16,856 goats were exported. Meanwhile, the domestic market consumed over 554,000t of red meat in FY25, worth $13.6 billion.

These results demonstrate the industry’s commitment to quality, sustainability and innovation, as well as the strength of our trade relationships.

There is a lot to be positive about as we approach 2026. Global trade will continue to be complex but will also continue to create exciting opportunities for Australia.

Our product is renowned for being high quality, safe, sustainable, and having a long shelf-life. Across the globe, our product is enjoyed in a broad range of cuisines with a wide variety of cuts across different ways of consuming red meat.

MLA’s Cattle Industry Projections recognises strong global demand for beef, with an overall slight decline in the herd forecast driven by the tough weather conditions in southern Australia.

In the feedlot sector, capacity and production remain at very high levels, which continue to increase. The latest feedlot survey from MLA and the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association, in March 2025, revealed cattle on feed rose to 1.5 million head, up 3% from the previous quarter and 11% higher than March 2024.

The goat sector also experienced a solid production year, backed by strong export markets. In 2023, Australia represented just 0.5% of global production, but also 49% of the global export value.
In the sheep sector, while the flock is forecast to decline in 2025 to 73.2 million head, slaughter levels are expected to remain high with elevated carcase weights supporting strong production.

Board business

The 2024 Annual General Meeting saw several changes to the MLA Board.

We farewelled long-term Director and Chairman, Alan Beckett. Professor Manny Noakes and Jacqueline Wilson-Smith also concluded their time with the Board. I extended my thanks to all three former directors for their service to MLA and the industry.

With this change, MLA welcomed three new directors:

  • Dr Saranne Cooke, who has experience on a variety of boards across the research and education, agricultural, health, sport, financial and not-for-profit sectors.
  • Lachie Hart, who has 40 years of experience within the beef cattle industry and is chair of the Stockyard Group, a third-generation family business operating across the beef supply chain in Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
  • Dr Stephen Lee, who is an expert in livestock research and adoption and is a Director of the South Australian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.
  • The Board also continued to engage with levy payers and industry through attendance at major events and holding our meetings in regional areas.

Highlights included LambEx in Adelaide, MLA Updates in Perth, Cattle Connect in Tamworth in conjunction with the MLA Annual General Meeting, and a regional board visit to Orange, NSW.

It is a privilege to serve in my first year as Chairman of MLA and I look forward to working with the broader industry and the MLA team to deliver outcomes and impact.

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