Livestock Report: Pressure on live cattle exports

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The Country's Jamie Mackay is joined by PGG Wrightson's GM for Livestock, Peter Moore, to chat about New Zealand's livestock market.

The central issue this month is live cattle exports, with the recent tragedy of the capsized vessel Gulf Livestock 1. Moore pointed out that this was a marine incident and should not be reflective of the livestock industry.

There was currently a number of cattle in quarantine ready for transport, but this recent event had added some pressure around livestock exports. It was the up to MPI and the Government to make a call on what will happen moving forward, Moore said.

Mackay asked if farmers had been paid for their live exports. Moore said there were different payment options for different companies, which could vary, depending on the type of shipment, along with contracts and agreements, export time, and other contributing resources.

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Meanwhile, it was the off-season for sale yards in New Zealand, Mackay asked what was happening during this time. Moore said there was "a bit of downward pressure" on the saleyards, but fundamentally there was still demand for farmed products.

Saleyard operations during New Zealand's Covid-19 alert level 2 had been pretty much business as usual, although there had been some challenges in terms of social distancing and making sure individuals were signing in, Moore said.