Australian Agricultural Company braces for earnings hit from Queensland floods

Australia’s biggest beef producer is bracing for an earnings hit from cattle deaths after heavy rain and flooding across parts of Queensland hit three of its stations.

Australian Agricultural Company told investors on Monday the full impact of the flood that hit its Carrum and Dalgonally cattle stations, both near Julia Creek, as well as its Canobie property, 200km north of Cloncurry, was yet to be determined.

The company manages about 456,000 head of cattle across 6.5 million hectares in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

It said the three impacted Gulf properties were carrying 55,000 head of cattle when the floods hit, but noted this figure was significantly lower than the number of livestock held in the same region during the 2019 floods that cost AACo nearly $150 million in losses.

Monday’s update sent share in AACo — which counts Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s private investment group Tattarang as its second-biggest shareholder with a 22.38 per cent stake — down 2.1 per cent to $1.42.

AACo said it remained able to fulfil supply obligations to its key markets but the overall impact of the flooding on its earnings for the financial year ending March was likely to be material.

“At this early stage, as conditions are evolving and remain challenging, a credible assessment of the impact on livestock and infrastructure is currently unable to be undertaken — noting there is still the possibility of further wet season impacts,” it said.

“Any comparisons between the 2019 event and the current event should be approached with caution, due to current cattle valuations, operating practices, property and livestock conditions, weather and rainfall variations and seasonality.”

South-western Queensland and the Northern Territory, where the majority of AACo’s properties and cattle are located, continue to experience favourable rainfall for the season.

The Bureau of Meteorology expects rain to continue to fall across parts of northern Queensland as floodwaters keep rising, with fears a cyclone could add to the State’s woes.

Rainfall is already “catastrophically above average” from Townsville to Mt Isa just five days into the new year.

It comes just days after China slapped new trade restrictions on the global beef industry.

Australian sales of the red meat will be limited to 205,000 tonnes in 2026 and any further shipments will suffer a 55 per cent tax. Other producers including Brazil and the United States were also hit with similar rules.