Return of northern abattoirs a boost for Kimberley cattle industry

Written on the 20 September 2016

Two years ago, cattle producers in the Kimberley region of Western Australia were operating their beef businesses a long way from any major abattoirs.

The vast distances to truck stock to a meatworks, left the region's cattle producers heavily exposed to the ups and downs of the live export trade.

The nearest meatworks for a Kimberley cattle station was either in Townsville on the Queensland coast or in areas of southern WA, which is over 3,000 kilometres away for many producers.

Some Kimberley pastoralists were even sending stock about 4,000 kilometres to Warrnambool, Victoria.

The situation has now changed dramatically, firstly with the opening of AACo's Livingstone abattoir near Darwin in 2015, followed by the newly opened abattoir on Yeeda Station near Derby.

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Source; ABC Rural, Matt Brann

Image: Matt Brann