Australia’s outlook calls for species-specific market planning

ABARES’ September quarterly outlook places Australia’s meat sectors in an uneven environment for 2026–27. The agency expects the value of pig slaughtering to decline by 6% to A$2.0 billion. At the same time, it forecasts a 6% rise in the value of poultry slaughtering, to A$4.4 billion. The contrast shows why “meat” cannot be treated as a single market.

The report links the overall setting to lower livestock prices and a decline in the total value of agricultural production. It also notes that highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza has been detected in Australian wildlife, while the country remains free of H5 in commercial poultry production. This distinction matters for procurement and communication: animal-health risk in the environment is not the same as an outbreak in production flocks.

For meat businesses, forecasts do not replace their own cost calculations, but they help structure the right questions. In pork, pig prices, feed costs, cut yields and demand behaviour should be considered separately. In poultry, a higher value outlook does not remove the need to strengthen biosecurity and operational continuity. The useful reading is not a bet on one species, but planning by supply chain, product and specific risk.