Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap
21 July 2023
Key points:
- Yardings lifted significantly week-on-week for both cattle and sheep.
- The return of some buyers in the sheep market helped to support some prices.
- Cattle slaughter numbers held firm, while sheep and lamb slaughter eased this week due to some processor maintenance shutdowns still occurring.
Cattle
The cattle market held firm across most indicators this week. Yardings lifted by 7,316 head (18%) week-on-week. Numbers through the Restocker Yearling Steer indicator increased the most, reaching 6,604 head.
Good rainfall in north-west and central Queensland in the last few weeks has increased demand at the saleyards. The presence of some active southern buyers in the north has also allowed prices to remain firm week-on-week.
Good quality offerings at Mount Barker helped the Western Young Cattle Indicator to strengthen 59¢ week-on-week to 595.67¢/kg carcase weight (cwt). Mount Barker contributed 75% of the throughput in the indicator. Vealer steers seem to be capturing the highest premiums and are more volatile than the other categories.
Dubbo had a good supply of feeder cattle available, with feeder steers going for between 260¢ to 359¢ and feeder heifers selling from 250¢ to 311¢/kg at the saleyard. Dubbo offered the largest contribution to the Feeder Steer indicator, which has held firm on price at 318.37¢/kg liveweight (lwt).
Sheep
Numbers in the sheep market lifted by 35,636 head (18%), with the Mutton and Merino Lamb indicators experiencing the largest upticks (13,301 and 8,186 head respectively). This had little effect on mutton prices, with the indicator easing slightly to 333.26¢/kg cwt. Dubbo had an increase of nearly 7,000 sheep week-on-week and prices held firm. Ewes being culled after the joining season and rebuild are now starting to reach the market.
Grain-finished lambs with a bit of extra weight also helped to maintain quality through the saleyards. Heavy lambs were softer this week, easing 5.93% to 511.77¢/kg cwt. Bendigo had an increase of nearly 4,000 lambs, with some good quality lambs presented to support a stronger market. Corowa saw a lift in the number of heavy lambs available, which encouraged bidding and stronger prices at the saleyard.
As weight and finish drive the current market, the Light Lamb indicator is more impacted than the Heavy or Trade Lamb indicators. The return of some supermarket and processor buyers to the market after shutdown periods helped to support demand at saleyards such as Wagga Wagga and Forbes. Other export buyers have also returned to the saleyards, helping to support prices despite the increase in yardings.
Slaughter
Cattle slaughter remained firm week-on-week with 117,522 head slaughtered. A 2% lift in Queensland and a 47% lift in SA helped support an easing in NSW and Victoria. Year-to-date, numbers are 28% above totals seen last year.
Lamb slaughter has eased 10% week-on-week to 385,823 head. Sheep slaughter has also come back 18,000 head, with plants still in their winter shutdown and maintenance periods. South Australian lamb slaughter eased 44% week-on-week, WA eased 15% and Victoria eased 8%. For sheep, Victoria and WA numbers decreased by 27%.
Goat slaughter remained at just over 34,000 head this week. Year-to-date numbers sit at 991,192 head, 43% above 2022.
Market update
NLRS reporting of weekly Casino markets will no longer occur.
The reporting of Lismore cattle market commenced on Wednesday 19 July. The NLRS has also begun reporting the Echuca cattle market this week.
Website update
MLA’s Market Information team has recently made changes to its Trends & Analysis page, including the publication of historic versions of the Quarterly Lot Feeding Brief, the State of the Industry Report and Co-products Report.
