Russell Cooke has run a feed manufacturing business in Australia’s remote Kimberley region since 2014 and says he has never been busier.
Key points:
- Phosphorus deficiency is a major problem for cattle in northern Australia
- Livestock stations purchase products such as ‘lick blocks’ to help supplement the cattle’s diet
- Australia imports all of its monocalcium phosphate (MCP), which is used in livestock supplements
“The wet season really failed in some parts [of northern Australia]so we’ve been getting a lot of early orders and additional customers for supplements to help keep the cattle weight up as long as possible,” he said.
Mr. Cooke makes supplements and feeds for livestock with a variety of ingredients, which can sometimes be sourced from his home state of Western Australia, such as Ord Irrigation Scheme maize, Perth canola meal and Port Hedland salt.
But when it comes to the key ingredient in phosphorus, Mr Cooke has to look abroad.
“Good quality phosphorus for animals is not available in Australia. We have to import it from countries around the world,” he said.
“This has been complicated over the past two years with container shipping issues and the price increase.
“If only we could get a locally made MCP [monocalcium phosphate] would be great.”
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Does Outback Qld hold the key?
A resource company operating in Queensland’s Georgina Basin has the livestock industry in its sights.
Chatham Rock Phosphate is in the final stages of acquiring a phosphate mine near Cloncurry and has multi-million dollar plans to build an MCP processing plant on the site.
“Right now MCP is a fully imported product, with about 30,000 tonnes a year imported into Australia, of which 75% comes from China,” chief executive Colin Randall said.
“I’ve talked to a lot of the lick block makers about our project and they want it now.”
Livestock enjoy lick blocks in the Northern Territory. (Provided by Jock Mohr-Bell)
Randall said the production of MCP required phosphate, limestone and sulfuric acid, all of which are available in the region.
“As far as we know, there are no other companies [in Australia] looking at MCP production,” he said.
“We sent samples to Belgium for testing and the recent results encourage us to take the next step and do some pilot studies.”
He said if all went according to plan, the processing plant could be operational by 2025 and capable of producing 30,000 tonnes of MCP per year.
The cattle industry in northern Australia will be watching closely.
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