Cattle prices have plummeted as a result of the prevailing cash crisis.

By Njabulo Ncube

CATTLE prices are plummeting nationwide at auctions as the prevailing cash shortages, coupled with a harsh economic climate, take their toll on the beef industry.
There are fears that buyers could be taking advantage of desperation among sellers to reduce prices.
The fresh outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease in some parts of Matabeleland has not helped matters, industry players said this week.
Rural sellers are reportedly making a beeline to off-load cattle at very low prices.
The cash shortages have forced some auctioneers to postpone auctions, it has emerged.
In Matabeleland, steers, for instance, fetched as little as US$0,98 a kilogramme at a recent auction, industry sources confirmed to the Financial Gazette’s Agricultural News.
This compares with about double the price at the same period last year.
Zenzele Ndebele, a cattle breeder in Plumtree, said he recently attended an auction at Insiza in Matabeleland North where a kilogramme for a steer was at US$0,98.
“The prices are low due to the cash crisis,” said Ndebele.
Some producers are reportedly holding onto their beasts in anticipation of improved prices, possibly after the introduction of bond notes in October, a development government anticipates could create activity in the market.
According to the industry players, prices have been hovering between US$0,98 and US$1,35 a kilogramme for steers since the cash crisis started a few months ago.
Plastic money is seen as an inconvenience for many subsistence farmers, as most small scale farmers regard cattle as “moving banks” and were used to being paid in cash after auctions.
Oscar Johnson, an executive at Jambo Tuku Stud, said from a breeder’s point of view, a combination of factors contributed to reduced prices.
“I believe the prices were already depressed before the physical cash crisis. I believe a liquidity crisis and weak economy has depressed the prices with the market also being temporarily flooded as farmers offloaded before the poor winter grass affected their cattle,” said Johnson.
Although the cash crisis has not really affected breeding animal prices, he said in the medium term the pressures would be mounting.
“There is not a lot of confidence in the auction sales coming up. Small scale farmers in the outlying rural areas could be more affected as they depend on cash payments,” he said.
But some sellers said they did not anticipate a contagion effect on cattle prices.
“My experience with the sector is that buyers are taking advantage of desperation among sellers to push prices down. Cartels are not uncommon among buyers,” a seller told this newspaper.
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