Working across Victoria and the Riverina as Elders State Livestock Manager, Nick Gray is part of a growing livestock team serving an incredibly diverse agricultural area.
L-R: Nick Gray, State Livestock Manager, with James Gadd and Declan Haines, TSM's Ballarat
He started his career as a trainee in Kyneton before moving to Ararat where he took out the ALPA National Young Auctioneers Competition in 2015. He subsequently represented Australia at the Calgary Stampede.
Nick describes this as a “fantastic learning experience” that set the momentum for the coming years of building his client base across the Riverina and Central West Victoria. Now settled in Ballarat, he has recently been appointed to a role on the state leadership team.
“I feel I have a good understanding of the business from the ground up which will hopefully set me up well in this role,” said Nick.
“I’m still working with clients in the saleyard, which is my passion, but now I’m trying to be of service to the wider livestock team, staying in communication with them and supporting them to deliver for clients across the state.”
It hasn’t been an easy time to take the mantle, with Victoria experiencing one of the most challenging run of seasons in recent memory. Nick says he is focusing on the opportunities presented by some market headwinds, and clients starting to move towards rebuilding.
“Overall, I’d rate the season as average now,” he said.
“Riverina is tight while northern Victoria, depending on where you are, is pretty good. Coming into central it’s quite positive, same when you’re getting down towards the coast and back into Gippsland. But then you get back down the coast and I would say it’s average. There are some good spots, but mostly average or struggling a little.
“We’re a long way off from where we were 12 or 18 months ago, not out of the woods yet, but feeling cautiously optimistic.”
The turn in conditions has naturally prompted the question of rebuilding, to which Nick says, “clients are only just starting to talk about in the south but it’s on the horizon”.
“We’re still 6 to 8 weeks from having that discussion in depth, particularly in places like the Riverina where they’ve had a very tight season and are still in the thick of spring sell off mode.
“In the south the big numbers have really gone out of areas, in particular with sheep, and we’ve only just seen the start of a break.
“I think restocking will take place cautiously, producers might only restock to 50 per cent then rebreed the rest of the way, but that will take time with hay sheds empty and needing to be replenished. Most will still have some breeding stock but it will be a slow rebuild.
“In sheep, we might see some people doing things a little bit differently because replacements will be costly enough, so maybe different breeds to what they’ve normally had. We will be helping clients with options and weighing up what makes sense for them.”
A conversation about livestock isn’t possible without discussing the role the US is playing in the rise in global beef market returns and the lift in prices paid for local cattle. Read our spring 2025 cattle market outlook for more information.
The export market outlook looks positive for the next couple of years, with US herd rebuilding and US imported beef demand increasing. Nick says this is translating to optimism for growers, but also a sense of watch and see.
“We’re very aware of the US market and how dynamic it is. I wouldn’t say growers are planning their business around it, but everyone is aware the US market is putting a floor in our market, so it is a positive outlook, and we are pretty confident that demand will continue.”
“It’s reassuring to know that the market is fairly secure but we’re passionate about just doing the best for our clients and being of service day-to-day regardless.”
