Am I selling or marketing cattle?
What is the difference between selling and marketing cattle?
Selling is transferring ownership of the livestock you have produced to the meat works or saleyards.
Marketing is an overall management process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers’ demands, for a profit. Marketing involves identifying customers and their needs, knowing what you can produce profitably, and using feedback to refine production and services.
Steps involved in marketing cattle
Step one
Asking questions of yourself, what you produce, and what each market requires will help to market your cattle when it comes time for sale.
Questions to ask include:
| The question | Where to find information |
|---|---|
| What are the main markets? | Examples include domestic, Japan, US, Korea, live export, others |
| What have we got now? | Property records, kill sheets, feedback from previous buyers |
| What are the market trends? | Market intelligence such as Meat & Livestock Australia - Prices and Markets |
| What can we produce profitably? | Records, enterprise analysis and market options |
| Who are my target customers? | Consider other producers, feedlots, processors, retailers, consumers |
| What do they want? | Market specifications, use of standard language, buyers |
Step two
By answering the questions above, you can focus your products and services.
Consider these further questions:
- What are you breeding objectives?
- What is best practice, and how do your current practices compare?
- Would having an accreditation be advantageous?
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Is there further training that would be beneficial?
Step three
Accumulate objective performance data and customer feedback to further refine your product and market your livestock.
Step four
Choose a selling method:
- abbattoir
- agents
- saleyards
- private sale
- online auctions
- forward contracts
- alliances.
Market specifications
Your customer’s specifications indicate the traits of greatest value to them. The best way to find out is directly from your customer. Examples of the main markets are shown in the figure below. USA accepts most cattle, preferably greater than 220kg HSCW (hot standard carcase weight).
Market intelligence
Meat & Livestock Australia provides useful market information, as written reports via the web or email. As a cattle producer you can register with Meat & Livestock Australia for free and receive a number of free reports; other reports are for sale. Meat & Livestock Australia also provides a free weekly email news update. You can subscribe online by visiting Meat & Livestock Australia Market Information Subscriptions or by calling 1800 023 100.
Written by Roger Sneath, Department of Primary Industries.