Multiple saleyards break the 1,000¢/kg mark

Cattle prices have been climbing to new heights on an almost week-to-week basis recently. This week, the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) reached a new record of 988¢/kg, closing in on the 1,000¢/kg mark.

This year, some saleyards that transact more vealers – such as Casino and Singleton – have regularly averaged young cattle prices over 1,000¢/kg. The vealers fetch more on a per head basis, given their lighter weight and the ability for restockers to add additional kilos to these animals.

This week, the number of saleyards that are averaging over 1,000¢/kg expanded to seven and included Armidale, Singleton, Scone, Casino, Wagga, Tamworth and Roma. Many of these seven yards had a higher number of vealer animals being transacted than usual. This week, 14% of all EYCI-eligible cattle were vealers, with the influx of vealers driving up the price of the indicator.

In addition to high vealer prices, yearling steer prices remained strong. Roma reached an average of 1,000¢/kg for young cattle without any vealer throughput.

With steers accounting for 63% of all EYCI-eligible cattle, it is clear restockers and feedlotters still believe there is a profit margin in adding weight to light weight steers, and that prices will remain elevated for some time.