Australia's Queensland Floods To Boost Cattle Prices

Widespread flooding in central areas of Australia's Queensland is likely to help boost prices for beef cattle and provide a fillip for crops, including sorghum, cotton and wheat, president of farmer services concern and lobby AgForce Peter Kenny said Wednesday.

While it is still too early to assess flood damage and the number of beasts lost remains uncertain, some graziers have already reported hundreds of cattle deaths, while total losses will certainly run into thousands of head and could run into tens of thousands, he said.

"There will be demand for cattle as a result of the wet spell we've had," and prices for store cattle in Queensland and neighboring states will reach "extremely high" levels, he told Dow Jones Newswires by telephone from the town of Emerald, which is under water.

Vast areas in central Queensland have received more than 200 millimeters of rainfall in the past week and large areas in excess of 300 millimeters, much of it in the past week resulting in heavy flooding across a broad area.

Queensland is the major beef cattle producing state in Australia. Heavy rains have also fallen in New South Wales and Victoria in recent weeks, breaking a long dry spell, rejuvenating pastures, filling farm dams and helping to lift demand from producers for cattle.

Kenny is part of an AgForce delegation inspecting central Queensland that aims to put in place a strategy to feed those cattle that are still alive.

But while floods are damaging many areas, the rain isn't all bad news.