Australian Agriculture: Livestock

The local value of livestock disposals and livestock products decreased 3.2% to $31.4 billion in 2023-24. Dry weather conditions reduced producer confidence, increasing the supply of animals to processors. This resulted in volatile market conditions, affecting prices for red meat.

Key livestock results for 2023-24:

• $12.8 billion for cattle and calves (down 7.8% from 2022-23)
• $3.7 billion for sheep and lambs (down 9.6%)
• $4.0 billion for poultry (up 10.7%)
• $1.7 billion for pigs (up 9.7%)
• $2.7 billion for wool (down 8.0%)
• $6.2 billion for milk (up 2.6%).

There were 30.4 million cattle on holding at 30 June 2024, an increase of 1.6% from June 2023. 

There were an estimated 28.2 million beef cattle on holding in Australia at 30 June 2024. This is an increase of 1.4% from 2023, following favourable seasonal conditions in most cattle growing regions. Queensland has the largest proportion of cattle in Australia, with 13.5 million head, an increase of 2.7% from 2023. The second largest cattle region, New South Wales increased by 0.7% to 5.9 million head.

Beef cattle have been calculated using the same sources and methods as for 2023. For further information please see the Methodology section.

There were an estimated 2.2 million dairy cattle at 30 June 2024, up 3.7% from June 2023. Victoria has the largest dairy herd with 1.3 million head, up 4.0% from the previous year. 

Dairy cattle have been calculated using the same sources and methods as for 2023. For further information please see the Methodology section.

A number of data sources, including ABS, ABARES and Dairy Australia are used to compile the cattle herd population. Revisions have been made to cattle herd at 30 June 2023 resulting from new and updated information received from these sources. 

Data on the latest calving and mating rates is not available in time to be included within the latest cattle population estimates, which need to be predicted on the basis of prevailing regional weather conditions. Updated mating and calving rates for 2022-23 are now available and have been incorporated into the herd model, generating minor revisions to the beef cattle population estimates for 2022-23. These revisions are included in the table below.

This publication marks the second release of agricultural livestock statistics produced using new methods and data sources

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is modernising the way official agricultural statistics are produced to better support Australian agriculture. New data sources will support improved regional detail on an annual basis. This helps to understand impacts from biosecurity and climate risks as well as supply chain and infrastructure requirements and supports decision making by governments, industry and farmers.

These changes were outlined in early 2023 in Modernising ABS Agriculture Statistics which explained why the ABS is modernising its Agriculture Statistics Program and the guiding principles being followed. 

The ABS is continuing work with the Red Meat Statistics Working Group to further refine the estimate of the number of livestock in Australia. We anticipate drawing upon additional data sources and refining livestock compilation methods over the coming years as outlined in the update on achievements and remaining data gaps.

For further information on the methods and data sources used to produce the statistics contained in this publication please see the Methodology section.

This publication, along with Australian Agriculture: Broadacre Crops and Australian Agriculture: Horticulture, have replaced the now discontinued Agricultural Commodities, Australia, and Value of Agriculture Commodities Produced, Australia.

A revision has been made to the value of poultry disposals Australian total for 2022-23, correcting for a minor computational error detected during 2023-24 processing. There were no changes to any of the previously published state/territory totals.

The ABS would like to thank members of industry, government and academia, who collaborated with the ABS and contributed to development of the cattle herd models used to produce cattle on holding estimates without the need to survey farmers.