Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

19 Jun 2026

Key points

Cattle yarding lifts 5%, returning mixed results. The best prices were found in southern markets across a very tight supply.
The Mutton Indicator continues its record-breaking run.
Cattle, lamb and sheep slaughter ease with impact from the long weekend.

A full sales week led to increased yardings across cattle, lamb and sheep, while large parts of the country received healthy rain, particularly WA, SA and Victoria. The Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) official El Niño call had no impact on markets as indicators across the categories were mixed; however, bigger gains were made across processor-focused lines in cattle and mutton in sheep.

Cattle market

The national cattle yarding lifted 5% this week to 70,157 head, coming back after the long weekend in some states the week prior. Across the larger offering, the indicators generated mixed results, the biggest drop coming from the Dairy Cow Indicator, which fell 2.7% to 345¢/kg liveweight (lwt), while the Feeder Steer Indicator lifted 5% to 531¢/kg lwt.

The Restocker Yearling Heifer Indicator lifted 4% to 467¢/kg lwt across an offering of 3,993 head, of which Queensland sales made up 69% of the total offering. The best prices were found in southern markets across very tight supply. Singleton, Wagga, Carcoar, Moss Vale, Mt Compass and Mount Gambier all made over 500¢/kg lwt, with a combined offering of 668 head. Restocker yearling steer supply was also driven by Queensland, which again made up 69% of the total offering of 5,656. Best prices came from Yass and Wagga, both reaching over 580¢/kg lwt against a national aggregate of 528¢/kg lwt.

The Processor Cow Indicator fell by 2% to 375¢/kg lwt across an offering of 10,182 head. Southern markets again made the best prices, with Wodonga, Mount Gambier, Naracoorte, Wagga and Mortlake all making over 400¢/kg lwt across a tighter yarding.

Sheep market

The national lamb yarding lifted 16% to 140,620 head, and the sheep yarding lifted 55% to 54,290 head. All indicators fell except for the Mutton Indicator, which continued its record-breaking run and lifted 2% to 884¢/kg carcase weight (cwt).

The Restocker Lamb Indicator fell 0.3% to 1,224¢/kg cwt across an offering of 23,214 head. NSW yards generally made premiums, with 20% of the offering coming from Wagga, which achieved the best price at 1,448¢/kg cwt.

The National Trade Lamb Indicator fell 2% to 1,198¢/kg cwt across an offering of 19,711 head. Ballarat and Wagga both made up 15% of the contribution, achieving 1,214¢/kg cwt and 1,210¢/kg cwt, respectively.

Slaughter

Week ending 12 June 2026

Cattle

Cattle slaughter eased 6% to 146,998 head, with the week impacted by the King’s Birthday public holiday in some states. Queensland and WA slaughter levels lifted by 3% and 25% respectively, while NSW (-16%), SA (-21%), Tasmania (-10%) and Victoria (-22%) had decreases closely aligned with the 20% drop in operation time caused by the public holiday.

State-by-state cattle slaughter (YoY):

NSW: down 7% to 30,247 head
Queensland: up 4% to 84,384 head
SA: down 33% to 3,078 head
Tasmania: up 13% to 4,654 head
Victoria: down 4% to 20,762 head
WA: up 56% to 3,873 head.

Sheepmeat

National lamb slaughter dropped 12% to 354,688 head again, with some states impacted from the King’s Birthday public holiday. Tasmania and WA lifted week-on-week (WoW) by 7% and 22% respectively. Lamb slaughter in NSW (-18%), Queensland (-6%), SA (-13%) and Victoria (16%) all dropped.

Sheep slaughter dropped 22% from last week to 64,404 head. All states except Queensland had a drop WoW. National sheep slaughter had a 66% decline on year-ago levels, reflecting the tight mutton supply.

State-by-state lamb slaughter (YoY):

NSW: stable at 105,589 head
Queensland: down 24% at 1,044 head
SA: down 30% at 35,148
Tasmania: down 24% at 6,532 head
Victoria: down 4% at 156,744 head
WA: down 19% at 47,431 head.

Attribute content to: Alex Fry, MLA Market Information Analyst

Information is correct at time of publication on 19 June 2026.

MLA makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of any information contained in this publication. Your use of, or reliance on, any content is entirely at your own risk and MLA accepts no liability for any losses or damages incurred by you as a result of that use or reliance. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior written consent of MLA. All use of MLA publications, reports and information is subject to MLA’s Market Report and Information Terms of Use.