Livestock prices for the remainder of current quarter expected to improve – Meat Board
For the last quarter of the year, the Meat Board of Namibia anticipates livestock prices to improve owing to expected rainfall that will see less animals earmarked for marketing in favour of restocking and production.
This is according to the latest Meat Chronicle Report by Meat Board, which indicates that the drought has seen approximately 11% more cattle being marketed during the first part of the year as opposed to the same period of 2018.
Compared to the same period last year, export abattoirs slaughtered 56% more cattle than the 246,000 cattle that were marketed, mainly because of the price initiative that was offered by the export abattoirs.
The drought-induced marketing supported by competitive prices offered by export facilities have supported an overall positive performance in the cattle sector. The sheep sector experienced a decline due to severe reductions in export abattoir and B&C class abattoir activity, while the pork market share promotion scheme has ensured a healthy ratio between local pork production and imports.
“Although the drought presents a shock in the market, the suspension of the small stock scheme offers the industry an opportunity to evaluate the effect of market forces outside quantitative restrictions and to devise a strategy for not only reinforcement of the Growth at Home policy but also the reversal of the negative production trend in the sheep sector,” the Meat Board noted.
