Friday daily cattle summary

19 Aug 2016

Numbers at Roma Prime sale more than halved to 409 head. Cows made up the largest percentage of the yarding, along with an odd bullock, a few pens of heifers, and several pens of bulls. Quality was good in a cheaper market, with not all the regular buyers operating this week.

- Light C3 grown heifers to slaughter sold between 269¢ and 280¢ and averaged 273¢, while those to feed reached averaged 270¢/kg
- Medium weight D3 cows to processors eased 21¢ to 237¢ while heavy weight D4’s were back 34¢, averaging 247¢/kg

The yarding at Bairnsdale increased marginally to 537 head. The mixed quality yarding consisted of fewer cows, a greater supply of secondary types in the grown cattle and very few vealers suited to butchers.

- Medium weight C3 grown steers to processors eased 23¢, averaging 340¢/kg
- Heavy D3 grown heifers to slaughter averaged 330¢, up 28¢/kg
- Processors purchased D1 dairy cows for an average of 204¢, back 13¢ while D2 beef breed cows averaged 263¢, back 4¢/kg

Consignments to Dubbo lifted 7% to 5,282 head. Yearlings made up the majority of the offering, along with a handy penning of cows in a yarding that had more weight offered than the previous sale. The usual buyers were present and competing in a mostly cheaper market, partially due to the mixed quality.

- Medium weight C2 yearling steers to feed were 3¢ dearer, averaging 394¢ while heavy C3’s to slaughter were 29¢ cheaper on 354¢/kg
- Processors purchased medium weight C3 yearling heifer for an average of 361¢, back 26¢ while heavy weights were 26¢ cheaper on 344¢/kg
- D4 heavy weight cows to slaughter were 2¢ dearer, averaging 279¢/kg

At the close of Thursday’s markets:

- The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) dropped 5.75¢ from its record level, to 720¢/kg cwt
- Trade steers eased 4¢ to 370¢/kg lwt
- Medium steers were up 3¢, on 344¢/kg lwt
- Heavy steers jumped 2¢ to 343¢/kg lwt
- Medium cows averaged 249¢, back 3¢/kg lwt
- Feeder steers slipped 2¢, to 386¢/kg lwt