Starving Qld cattle 'too thin to export'

STARVING cattle in north Queensland are too thin to export, prompting concerns Indonesia might look elsewhere to import beasts.

Northern Gulf Graziers Group chairman Barry Hughes says some cattle are so underweight because of a state-wide drought they can't be sold on the live cattle export market.

"The big challenge for the northern Australian cattle industry is to find the cattle to fill the quota," he told AAP.

"Supply is driven by our seasons and the weight of cattle at the moment is probably at its lowest."

The northern Australian cattle industry is in crisis due to a lack of water, low cattle prices and mounting loans.

Many graziers had hoped rebuilding the live cattle export trade with Indonesia would revive the industry.

In 2011 the trade was temporarily banned by the federal government following allegations Australian cattle were being mistreated abroad.

Although the ban was lifted months later, Indonesia reduced its annual import quota from 660,000 beasts to 260,000.

Australian diplomats and graziers slowly rebuilt the relationship with Indonesia and the export quota has risen steadily.

But Mr Hughes says cattle agents are struggling to fill orders.

The Georgetown grazier says many cattle have been relocated south to feed and it is too expensive to transport them back to northern ports for export.

He says a solution may be to export cattle destined for the domestic market.

"But there's not a lot we can do as we're at the mercy of the weather to allow the cattle to put the condition on," he said.

"It's all about survival at the moment rather than weight gain."

Mr Hughes is confident the Indonesian spying scandal won't hurt the live cattle export trade - he says graziers have a strong relationship with Indonesia.

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