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Cattle boom beefs up the bush
16 Aug 2004
A growing number of Queensland and Northern Territory rural families have been quietly transformed into multi-millionaires due to the property boom over the past year. An unprecedented $600 million-plus of rural property has changed hands, fuelled by strong cattle prices following the closure of Japanese and South Korean markets to US beef, and the break-up of the Stanbroke Pastoral empire, which saw 19 prime properties come onto the market.
Land prices in northern Australia have risen at least 30 per cent in the past 12 months, but the concern is now that the good times are coming to an end. US and Canadian beef will re-enter the north Asian market either at the end of this year or the beginning of 2005.
However, Australian Agricultural Company's CEO Don Mackay said he expects a soft rather than a hard landing in terms of effects on Australian pricing. The underlying fundamentals of the cattle industry are very strong because overall international supply is low, he said. He pointed to a slump in stock numbers in the US, Mexico and Australia and said this coincides with strong demand levels.
Australian Financial Review, 16/8/04.
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