Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap
24 April 2025
Key points:
- Sheep and cattle yardings were significantly lower due to public holidays this week.
- Yardings eased by 71% and 58% for cattle and sheep, respectively.
- Slaughter eased in all states except for Victoria.
Cattle
The cattle market has moved sideways across all indicators, with only the Dairy Cow and Restocker Heifer Indicators lifting notably. Cattle yardings dropped by 41,741 to 16,804 head.
The Dairy Cow Indicator lifted by 17¢ to 251¢/kg liveweight (lwt) and the Restocker Heifer Indicator lifted 8¢ to 332¢/kg lwt. Prices eased in NSW and Victoria by 13¢ and 23¢ respectively. The Processor Cow Indicator lifted by slightly more than 2¢ to 286¢/kg lwt. Prices lifted in NSW and Victoria but eased in Queensland and SA for the Processor Cow Indicator. Cow prices continue to maintain their strength from limited supply of heavy prime cattle and many lightweight cattle.
Other indicators have remained stable with price movements within 0–6¢, driven by the significant drop in yardings.
Sheep
The sheep market has lifted across all indicators, driven by significant drops in yardings this week. Yardings reduced by 107,562 to 77,634 head – equivalent to a 58% drop.
This week’s market experienced significant volatility given the lack of saleyards operating due to the public holidays. The Mutton Indicator lifted by 91¢ to 522¢/kg carcase weight (cwt), with continued strong demand for mutton despite mixed quality and reduced throughput. At Hamilton, certain pens sold between 500–600¢/kg cwt.
The majority of lambs sold were ideal for trade weights, with the Trade Lamb Indicator tracking 2¢ behind the Heavy Lamb Indicator at 823¢/kg cwt. Quality was mixed, given the reduced numbers. The Light Lamb Indicator lifted by 87¢ to 744¢/kg cwt, with interest from both restocker and feeders for lighter weights going to SA from Horsham.
Slaughter
Week ending 18 April 2025
Given the public holidays, cattle slaughter eased by 23,237 to 128,943 head. Slaughter eased in all states except Victoria, where it lifted by just 1,005 head. NSW slaughter eased by 37% or 10,425 to 27,569 head.
Lamb slaughter eased across all states, falling nationally by 108,731 to 418,413 head. NSW, where slaughter eased by 18% or 23,107 head, and in Victoria, where slaughter fell by 23% or 59,214 head. Sheep slaughter followed a similar trend, easing by 32,725 to 164,857 head nationally. In Tasmania, slaughter eased by 31% (2,087 head), NSW slaughter eased by 13% (10,271 head) and SA slaughter eased by 21% (3,499 head).
Attribute content to Emily Tan, MLA Market Information Analyst
