Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

The EYCI pushed through to 1,000¢/kg carcase weight (cwt) on Thursday 11 June but ended the week at 975¢/kg cwt. Both Trade Lamb and Mutton indicators reached record levels as processors continue to compete for tightening supply.

Cattle market

The cattle market saw mixed results across indicators this week, with the Dairy Cow Indicator having the largest lift (up 3%) and the Feeder Steer Indicator having the biggest dip (down 3%). The Monday public holiday in some states led to a tighter national yarding, down 9% to 60,818 head. The holiday caused sale closures for Forbes, Tamworth, Mortlake and Wagga, removing their influence on indicators this week. This resulted in a skew to northern markets, particularly Queensland, which accounted for 51% of the national yarding.

The National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI) remained steady over the week at 517¢/kg liveweight (lwt) across an offering of 25,421 head. Online sales in NSW formed the biggest contribution to the offering, making up 21% and achieving the highest average price at 557¢/kg lwt.

The Processor Cow Indicator fell 2% to 383¢/kg lwt across an offering of 10,549 head. Strong premiums were found at Victorian saleyards against a very tight supply, with just 1,827 head offered. The state averaged 417¢/kg lwt (a 9% difference).

Sheep market

The sheep market continued to perform strongly this week, with several indicators reaching new daily records on the back of constrained supply and strong buyer competition. Buyer activity remained elevated as conditions improved across key production regions, while feedlot buyers continued to compete for a limited pool of available lambs.

National lamb yardings eased 7% to 114,923 head, continuing the tighter supply trend heading into winter. Sheep yardings followed a similar pattern, falling 32% to 33,693 head, the lowest national sheep yarding since the beginning of 2024.

The Trade Lamb Indicator reached a new record this week at 1,228¢/kg cwt, despite supply lifting by 2,572 head week-on-week (WoW). In Forbes, trade lambs reached up to $315/head, highlighting the strength of competition for quality finished lambs.

The Mutton Indicator also set a record, reaching 865¢/kg cwt, as supply remained constrained and seasonal conditions continued to improve in key sheep-producing areas.

The Restocker Lamb Indicator recorded the strongest lift, up 45¢ from last week, to sit at 1,227¢/kg cwt, reflecting strong demand from restockers looking to place lambs back into paddocks as feed availability improves.

Slaughter

Week ending 5 June 2026

Cattle

Cattle slaughter eased 4% to 157,105 head, driven by a WoW drop in almost all states other than SA and Tasmania. NSW (-7%), Queensland (-2%) and Victoria (-5%) all dropped. Year-to-date (YTD), the sector is tracking 9% above 2025 figures, with all eastern states tracking above same period of 2025.

State-by-state cattle slaughter (YoY):

• NSW: down 1% to 35,961 head
• Queensland: up 3% to 82,269 head
• SA: up 4% to 3,899
• Tasmania: down 1% to 5,153 head
• Victoria: up 5% to 26,732 head
• WA: up 53% to 3,091 head.

Sheepmeat

National lamb slaughter reduced 1.5% despite a throughput lift in NSW, Tasmania and SA. Drops were seen in Victoria and WA, which dragged the national slaughter to 400,443 head.

Sheep slaughter dropped 29%, with all states decreasing except Queensland, bringing national throughput to 83,068 head – the lowest volume of the year.

State-by-state lamb slaughter (YoY):

• NSW: up 13% to 128,255 head
• Queensland: down 26% to 1,105 head
• SA: down 31% to 40,296 head
• Tasmania: down 36% to 6,108 head
• Victoria: down 19% to 185,743 head
• WA: down 20% to 38,936 head.

Attribute content to: Alex Fry, MLA Market Information Analyst

Information is correct at time of publication on 12 June 2026