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Cattle prices highest ever By Margaret Maccoll
Saleyard owner and auctioneer David Stariha.
Picture: ROB MACCOLL
Cattle sales have rocketed with record prices reached at the first sale of the year held at the Eumundi Saleyards held on Tuesday. After tough years marked by drought and bushfires stocks across the region have been greatly diminished, making sales of the scarce available cattle beyond anything ever before seen. Stariha Auctions owner David Stariha said the price of cattle had more than doubled in the past year. Animals that would have sold for $500 a year ago were now fetching more than $1000. “It was an extremely good with incredible prices,” he said of the auction. David said many farmers were forced to sell their stock during the drought and were now looking to build up their herds. The high prices are a boon for farmers with stock and are creating challenging for others. “A lot of people don’t have the cattle. Some
people can’t afford to restock,” he said. There were just over 200 beef and dairy cattle at this week’s sale which would normally attract more than double that number and buyers came from across the state. Steers were selling for $1200 to more than $1700 and the top sale for the day was a cow and calf that went under the hammer for $2280. “After the drought numbers are greatly diminished. That might be the norm now,”David said. David said most of the cattle were picked up by west Queensland buyers from areas including St George and the Condamine. “A lot of locals were there to buy but they wouldn’t have bought anything,” he said. Two Conondale farmers watched the auction unfold in disbelief of the prices. One was hoping to buy 30 to 50 cows and calves and the other wanted steers but neither placed a bid. Continued page 4
Seachange surge By Phil Jarratt In the post-Covid world, more and more Australians will flee the cities for the coast, according to population analysts. But while the Sunshine Coast population is predicted to crash through half a million by 2041, Noosa Shire’s controlled growth over the same period will be a modest 8000. These projections, based on figures released by the Sunshine Coast Council late last year and by the Queensland government’s 2018 population projections for Noosa, are not expected to be changed significantly by the evolving coronavirus situation, although much of the net growth in the coming years is likely to be driven by interstate rather than international migration.
From Noosa’s perspective, average growth of around 400 a year is unlikely to endanger the zoning-controlled “population cap” within the life of the new Noosa Plan, but what is concerning is the expected growth of more than 8,000 a year in the neighbouring Sunshine Coast local government area as part of an ongoing population explosion in South East Queensland, which is certain to push the “daytripper tsunami” into unprecedented levels, creating new pressures on traffic flow and infrastructure. Just to put this in perspective, population growth of our neighbouring shire is expected to be 20 times our own growth every year for the next 20 years. Meanwhile, although no post Covid-19 population modelling has been done here, Noosa Shire Council’s Principal Strategic Plan-
ner and “population guru” Rowena Skinner says: “Certainly our observation at the moment is that any immediate loss of international students or immigrants has been more than replaced by expats who have returned home and interstate migration from people departing Melbourne and Sydney. Even Brisbane residents who have gained a taste for working from home have departed the capital for coastal locations like ours.” Rowena points to University of Queensland research which suggests Australia as a whole will experience a significant reduction in international migration with up to a four percent reduction in the forecasted 2040 population, adding: “However, historically international migrants predominantly settle in inner city, higher density environments, so it is expected
the capital cities will feel their absence the most. Interstate migrants are particularly attracted to coastal destinations like the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. In the 12 months ending June 2020, Queensland had the largest net gain of people, compared to all other states and territories in Australia. Brisbane had a net inflow of 13,500 people while the areas outside the capital city had a net inflow of 11,800 people. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, in its December 2020 Population Statement, predicts the “rest-of-state” (the part of Queensland that isn’t Brisbane) will have the highest level of net internal migration in the country over the next decade, driven by the high growth in coastal areas, such as the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Continued page 3
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