NORTHERN Territory cattle will be sold to Saudi Arabia following an agreement signed by the Federal Government.
The Saudis are expected to offer a higher price than buyers in the NT’s traditional South-East Asian market, the Northern Territory News reports.
But pastoralists said Indonesia would remain the Territory’s main market.
NT Cattlemen’s Association head Luke Bowen said some live cattle would be shipped from Darwin to Saudi Arabia following the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke and the Arab state.
"It will come down to the price they are willing to pay," he said. "But given our proximity to Asia, most of our cattle will continue to go straight (up) north."
The Territory will start selling live cattle to Vietnam later this year.
The Vietnamese are building a feedlot to handle the imports.
"But it will be a fairly small share of our market," Mr Bowen said.
Territory cattlemen believe they can increase production by 30 per cent over the next 10-15 years through better husbandry, genetic engineering, continued investment and using more land.
Several Aboriginal communities have started renting a part of their land for cattle under the Indigenous Pastoral Program.
Forty indigenous people were trained at cattleyards last year and 40-60 more are expected to be trained this year.
Meanwhile, the independent expert has declared the proposed sale of NT cattle stations Tipperary and Litchfield to AACo to be fair and reasonable.
The report, by BDO Kendalls, is being sent to shareholders, who will vote on the sale at an extraordinary general meeting on April 27.
The owner of the two stations, Allan Myers, wants to buy 19.9 per cent of AACo, now held by Futuris, for $89.9 million - conditional on AACo buying the properties for $105 million.
