Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

Cattle market

The cattle market has been generally positive, with the exception of the Feeder Steer Indicator. Yardings eased by 818 to 61,603 head and year-to-date yardings are up by 27%.

The Feeder Steer Indicator eased by 7¢ to 364¢/kg liveweight (lwt), yardings eased slightly by 430 to 5,748 head. Prices eased in most states, notably in NSW where prices eased by 5¢. At Wagga, competition in the feeder steer market was subdued, though prices lifted at the end of the sale.

The Restocker Yearling Steer Indicator lifted by 5¢ to 374¢/kg lwt, following a lift in prices over the past two weeks. Overall NSW prices eased by 2¢, notably at Casino where prices eased by 87¢, with a larger number of plainer quality cattle. According to market reports, there are plenty of lightweight steers, heifers and calves as producers offload due to a shortage of water.

Sheep market

The sheep market has eased for all indicators except the Restocker Lamb Indicator. Total yardings lifted by 33,657 to 310,235 head, the highest since the end of July. Lamb yardings grew by 24,732 head while sheep yardings lifted by 8,925 head.

The Light Lamb Indicator eased by 26¢ to 654¢/kg carcase weight (cwt), and yardings lifted by 1,642 to 37,391 head. Prices eased in all states except Victoria, where prices lifted by 57¢. Overall, the quality of lambs has eased, resulting in a slight price reduction.

The Mutton Indicator eased by 37¢ to 314¢/kg cwt, with prices easing in NSW and Victoria. At Wagga, there was a high quality offering of good, heavy sheep, but buyers were more selective than usual, given yardings lifted by 2,500 head.

Slaughter              

Week ending 6 September 2024

Cattle slaughter eased by 4,454 to 136,536 head. Slaughter eased in most states, particularly in NSW and Tasmania where slaughter eased by 1,206 and 2,067 head, respectively. Year-to-date slaughter has lifted by 9% (10,914 head), indicating the steady processing capacity.

Combined sheep and lamb slaughter eased by 13,754 to 575,072 head. Slaughter is now 7% below the same time last year. Lamb slaughter eased by 604 to 407,469 head, which marks the fifth week that lamb slaughter is trending below 2023 figures. A handful of processors are still shut down at this time of year. As a result, NSW slaughter eased by 6,654 head while SA lamb slaughter lifted by 5,108 head. Sheep slaughter also eased by 13,150 to 167,603 head. NSW slaughter eased by 13,139 head, and Tasmania and Victoria both eased slightly at 2,170 and 2,922 head respectively.

Attribute content to Emily Tan, MLA Market Information Analyst