Figures released by Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) show live cattle exports slumped by 36 percent in October, largely because of the stronger dollar, while beef exports dropped 11 percent last month.

The local dollar surged through the 74 US cents mark to a new six-year high this week, driven by the falling US dollar and higher Australian interest rates which have risen by half a percentage point to 5.25 percent in the last two months.

The National Farmers' Federation has estimated that the 30 percent appreciation in the dollar over the past 12 months has cost farmers around 3.3 billion Australian dollars (24.4 million US dollars).

MLA said live cattle sales to Indonesia, Australia's biggest market, had dropped 47 percent and suffered their fifth consecutive monthly fall.

"The driving force behind the declining exports has been the steady appreciation of the Australian dollar against the rupiah combined with current high cattle prices," it said.

Exports of live cattle to Malaysia and the Philippines increased slightly, while sales of live dairy cattle to China remain strong.

On the beef front, the big fall has been to Australia's third biggest market, South Korea where sales are down 52 percent on the same period last year, while sales to Canada have dropped 85 percent to just 767 tonnes.

Despite the strong dollar, beef sales have actually climbed into the US.

During November, exports of Australian beef to the US hit a record high of 35,290 tonnes, driven by high US domestic prices,

"The prospect of high export returns from the US has seen beef that would have otherwise been sent to other markets redirected into the US," the MLA said.

Sales during November to the United States made up 49.1 percent of total exports, the second highest proportion on record.

Australia has now filled 88 percent of its 378,000 tonne quota of beef into the US market.

TERRA.WIRE