Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

05 Sep 2025

Key points

Feeder steer prices lifted, supported by strong lot feeder demand in Queensland.
Light lamb values strengthened, with the biggest gains in Queensland and Victoria.
National lamb slaughter fell 6% to 351,669 head – the lowest weekly total in a month.

Cattle market

The cattle market has lifted for most indicators except the Restocker Yearling Steer Indicator which is inching closer to 500¢/kg liveweight (lwt).

The Feeder Steer Indicator lifted 15¢ to 488¢ /kg lwt, largely driven by Queensland where prices lifted 25¢. Lot feeders had strong interest this week, often outbidding the restockers and driving the higher prices.

The Dairy Cow Indicator lifted 19¢ to 368¢/kg lwt. Victorian prices lifted 20¢. Buyers were a little less selective this week. At Leongatha, quality was limited to a few pens with a smaller selection of finished trade cattle, while cows made up half of the sales. Cow numbers reduced from the previous week at Dalby which could be the reason behind the price lift.

Sheep market

The sheep market has strengthened with every indicator price increasing above $10/kg excluding the Mutton Indicator. Combined sheep and lamb yardings eased in most states, except for a slight lift in SA, and nationally reduced by 26,759 to 224,514 head.

The Light Lamb Indicator lifted 78¢ to 1,045¢/kg carcase weight (cwt). Prices lifted in a most states, with Queensland (+115¢), closely followed by Victoria (+102¢). Light lambs at Ballarat sold for between 1000¢ to 1100¢/kg cwt.

The Trade Lamb Indicator rose 45¢ to 1,192¢ kg cwt – 32¢ above the Heavy Lamb Indicator. Prices lifted in NSW (+54¢), Victoria (+23¢) and Tasmania (+72¢). Forbes witnessed the highest price at 1,272¢/kg cwt. The bulk of new season lambs at Wagga weighed between 21−22kg and sold for $244−$276/head. However, lambs above 26kg were rare and sold between $331−$344/head averaging 1,242c/kg cwt.

Slaughter

Week ending 29 August 2025

Cattle slaughter

National cattle slaughter eased 3% to 148,336 head, down just over 4,000 head on the week prior. Queensland accounted for most of the decline, while throughput in other states was steady to slightly higher.

State-by-state breakdown of cattle slaughter:

NSW: steady at 35,345
Queensland: down 6% to 75,169
SA: up 3% to 3,869
Tasmania: up 4% to 3,818
Victoria: up 3% to 26,376
WA: down 5% to 3,759.

Sheep slaughter

National lamb slaughter fell 6% to 351,669 head – the lowest weekly total in a month and is now 14% down year-on-year. The decline was concentrated in Victoria and WA, while NSW and Tasmania recorded modest gains. Sheep slaughter lifted 3% week-on-week to 143,761 head, supported by stronger activity in WA and steady volumes in Victoria. However, sheep slaughter has eased by 20% compared to 2024 figures.

State-by-state breakdown of lamb slaughter:

NSW: up 1% to 99,219
Queensland: up 10% to 1,318
SA: down 1% to 41,330
Tasmania: up 12% to 5,464
Victoria: down 9% to 164,993
WA: down 12% to 39,345.

Information is correct at the time of publishing on 5 September 2025.

Attribute content to Emily Tan, MLA Market Information Analyst

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