New processing facilities are being built at Cootamundra, Murray Bridge, Lance Creek, Moe and Tongala, marking a shift in southern Australia’s processing footprint.
The expansion is expected to drive stronger demand for grain-fed cattle as processors look to secure supply, product quality and workers.
Speaking at the Pasture Agronomy Service conference in Wagga Wagga this month, Kilcoy Global Foods head of livestock Duane Woodham said southern Australia was emerging as a processing powerhouse.
“We will see more grain-fed cattle in the mix with more demand from feedlotters,” Mr Woodham said.
“We need to start thinking about how we supply that capacity.”
He said processors were turning to grain-fed programs to manage variability and ensure continuity.
“More processors are putting grain-fed cattle in their mix to achieve a consistent supply, consistent product and continuity for their workforce,” he said.
Mr Woodham warned that feedlot capacity in southern Australia had not kept pace with processing expansion, and called for further investment.
“We would like to see more investment by companies or individuals to increase feedlot capacity in the southern area,” he said.
Kilcoy Global Foods currently processes 500 grain-fed cattle a day at its Lance Creek facility in Victoria, sourcing cattle from feedlots across the country.
The company exports beef products to more than 50 countries.
At Kilcoy’s Hardwicks plant at Kyneton, Victoria, about 600 pasture-raised cattle were processed daily.
These cattle are sourced either direct from farmers or through saleyards in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
The Hardwicks plant supplies domestic markets in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and regional butcher shops.
In 2022, Kilcoy purchased the Tabro Meat cow manufacturing plant at Lance Creek, investing capital to expand production of premium grass and grain-fed beef.
Since then, the facility has been increasing from a daily kill of 60 grain-fed cattle in 2024 to 500 head in 2026.
“That is just the start of the journey as our southern processing capabilities grow,” Mr Woodham said.
Kilcoy is targeting cattle that will perform on 100‑day grain-fed programs, with breeding values at or above average for 600‑day weight and intramuscular fat (IMF).
“There is demand for a variety of marble scores,” Mr Woodham said.
“In some instances, higher marble scores deliver stronger returns, but there is a market for all marble scores.”
Pasture-raised cattle processed at Hardwicks typically dress between 180 and 240kg for domestic markets, while heavier grass-fed or grain-assisted cattle weighing 260 to 360kg hot standard carcase weight are also processed.
Australian feedlots turned off 3.6 million cattle in 2025, an increase of 500,000 head on the previous year, highlighting the industry’s shift toward grain-fed production.
Kilcoy’s own growth reflects that transition.
From processing 80,000 mainly grass-fed cattle in 2000, the company processed 541,000 grain-fed cattle in 2025.
Today, Kilcoy operates an integrated paddock-to-plate supply chain, with five state-of-the-art facilities processing more than one million cattle, three million small stock and 50,000 tonnes of product annually.
Recent investments include the Coominya facility in Queensland, acquired in 2024, which produces up to three million hamburger patties a day, and Kilcoy Cuisine Solutions at Bell's Creek, supplying products for retail and food service customers.
Mr Woodham said the expansion of southern processing capacity highlighted the need for producers to align genetics, feeding systems and supply chains with the demands of the processing sector.
