[Brad Lockyer]

The price farmers are receiving for their cattle and sheep at the saleyard has dropped to its lowest point in years, the Daily Mail is reporting.

But walk into Coles or Woolworths, and you’ll see their beef and lamb prices are still higher than ever. So, if the farmers aren’t making money, why aren’t retail meat prices falling? Is it just a case of the supermarket giants getting even more greedy?

Matt Dalgleish, livestock market analyst, says the current drop in wholesale prices is due to a current oversupply of animals. This oversupply has in turn been caused by our relatively wet weather over the past few years, which allowed farmers to build up their stocks.

But with weather experts predicting the return of hot, dry El Nino conditions this summer, farmers are now in a situation where they don’t want to be left with too many animals when drought conditions return – which puts them at the mercy of what meat processors and supermarkets are willing to pay.

A labour shortage in the meat processing industry is also limiting the amount of meat the processors are buying.

Mr Dalgleish says he doesn’t expect retail meat prices to drop any time soon, at least until stock numbers stabilise and the labour issue is addressed.

How much have you had to pay for meat recently?

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