Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

06 Nov 2026

Key points

Light rain reached large parts of the country.
Cattle indicators continued to rise, though gains in processor-focused lines settled.
Cattle slaughter declined as processor supply remained tight.

Rain continued for large parts of the country this week, with central Queensland, north-east NSW and Victoria receiving falls from 10–25mm. The cattle yarding returned strongly while sheep and lamb numbers retracted.

Cattle market

The national cattle yarding lifted 21% this week to 63,915 head as NSW (up 38%) and Queensland (up 27%) numbers returned strongly.

All cattle indicators lifted again, though gains in processor-focused lines moderated. The Feeder Heifer Indicator had the smallest gain, lifting 0.3% while the Restocker Yearling Steer Indicator continued to rise sharply, lifting 6% over the week.

The Heavy Steer Indicator remained firm, lifting just 0.4% to 487.5¢/kg liveweight (lwt), reaching new records again as the supply coming through remains very restricted with just 1,546 head making up the indicator this week.

The Restocker Yearling Steer Indicator continued its sharp rise, lifting 6% over the week to 613¢/kg lwt, across an offering of 4,064 head. The indicator is up 20% over the last month. Queensland yards formed 71% of the offering and made 628¢/kg lwt.

Sheep market

National lamb yardings declined by 3% week-on-week (wow) to 191,642 head, while sheep yardings fell 18% to 73,696 head. Market indicators weakened across the board, with the exception of the mutton indicator, which rose marginally by 1¢ to average 859¢/kg carcase weight (cwt).

The Light Lamb Indicator recorded the largest decline of the week, falling 5.5% to 1,108¢/kg cwt across an offering of 13,057 head. Despite the softer market, the strongest prices were achieved at Naracoorte, 1,229¢/kg cwt which made up 5% of the total offering.

The Merino Lamb Indicator also came under pressure, declining 3.8% wow to 1,0589¢/kg cwt from an offering of 10,575 head. Notably, it remains the only indicator trading below its level of four weeks ago. Forbes recorded the highest price of the week at 1,146¢/kg cwt, supported by the second-largest offering among reporting saleyards.

Lamb quality at the Wagga saleyards was reported as mixed; however, the market remained firm, supported by a major feedlot buyer that helped establish a solid price floor. At Ballarat, quality improved compared to previous sales, although the majority of the offering consisted of store lambs. Meanwhile, numbers increased slightly at Forbes, with overall quality remaining in line with recent yardings.

Slaughter

Week ending 30 October 2026

Cattle

National cattle slaughter decreased 6% week-on-week to 131,713 head. Queensland and Victoria lead the decrease dropping 8.5% and 5% respectively, with all states except from Tasmania dropping over the week as rain encouraged retention.

State-by-state cattle slaughter (YoY):

NSW: down 11% to 32,142 head

Queensland: down 21% to 64,792 head

SA: up 1% to 3,857 head

Tasmania: down 4% to 4,795 head

Victoria: down 12% to 22,394 head

WA: up 1% to 3,733 head.

Sheepmeat

National lamb slaughter remained stable week-on-week lifting just 42 head to 395,020 in total. National sheep slaughter lifted 15% to 189,675 head.

State-by-state lamb slaughter (YoY):

NSW: down 2% to 106,876 head

Queensland: down 15% to 991 head

SA: down 20% to 33,406 head

Tasmania: up 5% to 8,195 head

Victoria: down 16% to 188,996 head

WA: up 9% to 56,556 head.

Attribute content to: Alex Fry, MLA Market Information Analyst

Information is correct at time of publication on 6 November 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.