Australian Lot Feeders' Association (ALFA) president Jim Cudmore said the appreciating Australian dollar and the "hand to mouth" trading of importers had export growth.

But he said that the "strength of the domestic market has been significant".

"Notably, grainfed cattle production was more competitive as a result of favourable feeder cattle and feed grain prices earlier in the quarter, and declining grass fed cattle numbers due to normal winter trends," Mr Cudmore said.

"Whilst these input costs increased towards the end of the quarter, feed grain prices in particular were still significantly lower than this time last year - around 37pc on average."

According to the survey, cattle numbers on feed rose mainly in New South Wales and Queensland, with the smaller lot feeding states of Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia showing numbers in line with normal seasonal patterns.

Industry capacity utilisation increased from 54pc to 60pc on a national basis.

Meat & Livestock Australia's chief market analyst, Peter Weeks said the export market results for grain fed beef reflected reduced consumer demand, difficult conditions for importers and traders, along with the disruption to the market by the return of US beef.

"Grain fed beef exports into Japan and Korea, declined by 3pc and 20pc, respectively, compared to this time last year," Mr Weeks said.

"However, both markets experienced normal seasonal improvement compared to the March quarter (increasing by 5pc and 9pc)."