Backgrounding
Cattle backgrounding is the practice of moving weaned cattle from breeding properties to a secondary property in order to prepare them for specific markets.
Cattle may be backgrounded to grow weaners (less than 200kg) through to feedlot entry weight (more than 350kg) or to relocate cattle on a property that is more accessible for transport to market.
Many cattle from the pastoral region are transported to backgrounding properties in the Northern Agricultural region in preparation for live export out of Fremantle port or entry into feedlots in the south for domestic processing.
The backgrounding industry in WA is not as well developed as it is in other parts of Australia and this represents a significant opportunity for development and investment.
Many properties in the agricultural region have perennial pastures that could be used to value-add to pastoral cattle and provide a continuous supply to live export, feedlots and abattoirs.
Backgrounding has the potential to become a key step in an integrated supply chain scenario and could provide important efficiencies and advantages to both live export and slaughter markets to deliver consistency of cattle and annual scheduling of supply.