Marketing Livestock

Successful marketing of any product requires producers to have a strong understanding of their customers’ needs and preferences. Potential customers of beef feedlots, both domestic and export, may include processors, retailers, supermarkets, food service industries and re-stockers.

Before investing in a feedlot, it is very important to investigate and establish relationships with potential contractors, buyers and processors. The components needed for producing beef should be derived according to the requirements of the target market.

This includes feeding regimes, animal genetics, product price, animal welfare and investment in infrastructure. In order to minimize associated risks and increase market security, it is important to maintain a close relationship with the target customer.

An advantage of lot feeding is the ability to produce animals that are uniform in both weight and fat score. This enhances the capacity for forward selling or contracting as a suitable marketing option.

The following considerations need to be taken into account when marketing beef products:

• Identification of target markets
• Size of the market, market growth and competition
• Types of products to be marketed
• Capacity and continuity of supply to market annually

The wide range of markets available to the feedlot industry means that there is a broad spectrum of market specifications. Each market may require different specifications for the delivery of each of its products. Factors determining market specifications include a wide range of carcass and eating quality criteria including live weight, fat score, marbling and age. Payment from all markets can be based on live weight, carcass weight, forward contracts, and spot prices to name a few.