Rural Livestock Marketing & Advisory Strategies – We Provide Tailored Agribusiness Advice & Specialist Knowledge

Livestock and property marketing is an overall management process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers’ demands, for a profit. Livestock and property marketing involves identifying customers and their needs, knowing what they can produce profitably, and using feedback to refine production strategies.

A marketing strategy for your livestock establishes a position and plan for your business to maximise returns. It also helps you better manage your production system and commercial risks.

All of the work you do in your production system is vital, including genetics, nutrition, animal and pasture management. Having an integrated and value-driven marketing approaches helps you to capitalise on all this work when animals finish their time on your property, thereby generating revenue. Despite these identifiable market specifications being readily available, many people don’t appreciate what a powerful tool they are in helping them make money.

Livestock market specifications are the key drivers which most affect the way in which you apply operational management strategies to your feedbase and livestock management practices to achieve a successful market outcome. It means you can use your feed reserves and make grazing decisions that will direct your animals to a market end point.  This is the focus that many people need to have but often don’t.

Meat & Livestock Australia outlines three key steps to help producers meet market specifications. These include 1) Managing nutrition, health and welfare 2) Managing livestock 2-3 weeks before sale and during mustering and transport to achieve optimal carcase dressing percentage and avoid downgraded product, and 3) Revisit decisions to be flexible to feed supply, financial situation or market price changes.

Steps involved in livestock marketing include identifying:

• What are the main markets? (e.g. domestic, Japan, US, Korea, live export, others)
• What have we got now? (feedback, property records)
• What are the market trends? (market intelligence, e.g. Meat & Livestock Australia reports, customer communication)
• What can we produce profitably? (records, analyse enterprise and market options)
• Who are my target customers? (producers, feedlots, processors, retailers, consumers)
• What do they want? (specifications, use of standard language, other needs)
• Focus production and services (breeding objectives, best practice, accreditations, training)
• Promotion (objective data on product performance)
• Selling method (abattoir, agents, saleyards, private, AuctionsPlus, contracts, alliances)
• Delivering to the customer’s expectations (live animal assessment to specifications, paperwork, other needs)
• Feedback on customer satisfaction (analyse feedback, follow up with customer as required)
• Refine production to specifications (adjust breeding objectives, management practices, measure results)

Meat & Livestock Australia outlines some potential livestock markets in the table below

Beef	Lamb	Sheepmeat	Goatmeat
Weaners Vealers Feeder steers Backgrounding cattle for feedlots Bull beef Cull cows Pregnancy-tested in-calf (PTIC) heifers and cows Unjoined heifers Domestic and/or export trade finished cattle Animals for live export Niche market cattle	Domestic trade Supermarkets Foodservice Farmers’ or produce markets Heavy export Light export	Domestic manufacturing Domestic retail Domestic food service Heavy export Light export Live sheep Farmers or produce markets	Capretto Chevon Commodity export goat meat Commodity domestic goat meat Live goat export Farmers or produce markets