John Kaus and the Cattle Trade to the Philippines

Who was John Kaus?

John Christopher Keith Kaus was an Australian cattle exporter who spent much of his career moving feeder cattle to the Philippines and neighboring Southeast Asian markets. The Beef Central tribute published in December 2018 says that before exporting he worked as a jackaroo, stock agent and property manager, the practical grounding that let him judge cattle and the people who bought them.

Carabao Exports and the first Philippines shipment

Kaus joined Carabao Exports in 1985 and took part in its first feeder cattle shipment to General Santos City in the Philippines. In 1989 Carabao and its cattle properties were sold to the Sultan of Brunei. Kaus became marketing manager and opened an office in Manila to serve Southeast Asia.

Carabao grew to sell around 50,000 cattle a year. At Beef '94 in Rockhampton the company downsized, and Kaus was made redundant.

Founding South East Asian Livestock Services

Kaus then founded South East Asian Livestock Services, known as SEALS, at first in a loose partnership with John Montague of Quality Livestock Australia. It marketed 40,000 cattle a year in its first two years. In 1996 SEALS became a licensed exporter in its own right; Kaus sold the cattle and Sid Parker bought them.

The company came through the Asian financial crisis, the Global Financial Crisis and the 2011 Indonesian trade suspension, and it serves the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. In 2010, as a major shareholder, he bought the Karumba Livestock Export shipping depot and wharf in Queensland.

The 2011 suspension and the live export industry

The Indonesian trade suspension of 2011 followed an ABC report on poor practices. Roly Nieper, another Hall of Fame figure, said in Beef Central's account of his own induction that the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System came together in about six weeks. SEALS operated through that period according to the Kaus tribute.

Live export remains debated over animal welfare, and this profile notes only that the sources record the suspension and the regulatory response.

Honors and legacy

Kaus was inducted into the Australian Livestock Export Industry Hall of Fame in November 2013 and made a life member of the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters' Association the same year. He died in December 2018, and the tribute describes him as pioneering in the Philippines trade.

A cattle story for anyone tracing how Australian herds reach Asian buyers can be found in the farm.FM ranching section and in a farm.FM story about the Philippines cattle trade. The tribute at Beef Central remains the main published account reviewed here.