WA live sheep exports up 42 per cent in 2023 despite looming spectre of ban

The number of live sheep exported from WA has shot up a whopping 42 per cent this year despite ongoing uncertainty caused by the Albanese Government’s pledge to ban the trade. New figures published by agricultural market analyst Mercado reveal significant year-on-year growth for the year-to-May, despite a dip in February, when 40 per cent less sheep were exported compared with the same month last year. Numbers picked back up in March — with a massive 449 per cent year-on-year increase recorded that month — and continued rising throughout April and May, when numbers were up 111 per cent. “Looking at the first five months of 2023 together, 400,385 sheep have headed offshore, with 115,410 head exported in May alone,” Mercado analyst Jamie-Lee Oldfield said. “In comparison, just shy of 503,000 sheep were exported in the entire 2022 calendar year.” Ms Oldfield noted there were only three months of open trade left for the year, taking into account Australia’s annual moratorium on sheep exports during the Northern Hemisphere summer, which began in June and finishes in mid September. The moratorium — introduced in 2019 after the deaths of about 2400 sheep on a voyage from Fremantle — effectively bans shipments to the Middle East when animals are most susceptible to heat stress. This year’s surge comes as opponents of the trade, including Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt, continue to dismiss it as an industry in decline. But despite the growth, Ms Oldfield said numbers were still well below those seen historically. “While trade is tracking above 2021 and 2022 levels, numbers are still tracking below 2020, making them the third lowest on record since the turn of the century,” she explained. “In terms of markets, Qatar, which just five years ago was taking over half a million sheep from Australia alone, has not imported any Australian sheep this year. “Kuwait has stepped in as a major partner, taking well over half of all sheep that were live exported from Australia in 2022, and 40 per cent of this year’s trade.” Both Oman and Israel have also shown a growing appetite for Australian sheep, with volumes up 140 per cent and 139 per cent, respectively, this year. More than 99 per cent of sheep exported from Australia are shipped from WA, with the $92 million trade set to be shut down if Labor wins the next Federal election. For farmers like Eneabba sheep producer Chris Patmore, chair of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA’s livestock committee, the trade remains a vital outlet for offloading stock. Mr Patmore said he was lucky to offload more than 300 sheep on one of the last shipments before this year’s moratorium started, as demand for slots on boats soars. “It was a lifesaver for me as far as feed goes, because if I didn’t get them away on that boat, then I’d either have to carry him through the winter at a big expense, or the other option was to just quit them at Muchea (Livestock Centre),” he said. “If I’d done that, a store buyer would have bought them for about just over half the price that I got on the boat, so it made a big difference to my program.” WAFarmers president John Hassell said farm lobby groups would continue fighting the industry’s impending phase-out. “We have continuously opposed that policy, and Murray Watt, given all of the facts, just says we’re banning it anyway,” Mr Hassell said. “Sadly, that’s just pandering to inner city elites. It’s not based on science, and it’s pretty arrogant and disappointing.” Meat and Livestock Australia has forecast a 16 per cent year-on-year rise in live sheep exports in 2023, bringing the predicted total to 582,000 head. The prediction was included in MLA’s latest quarterly sheep industry projections, released this week. “This upward momentum is expected to be carried through the next two years, bolstered by improvements in key market demand and increased supply in Australia,” the report said. MLA attributed declining live sheep export volumes in recent years to “government regulation, a diminished flock caused by a historic drought leading to sustained elevated sheep prices reducing import demand, and a decline in consumer demand in part triggered by the pandemic”. “However, there has been a gradual recovery since the last quarter of 2022, as some of these factors have turned around,” the report said.