Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

Cattle market

Several saleyards did not hold sales this week due to high rainfall and flooding across central Queensland, including Roma, Gracemere, Charters Towers and Blackall.

There was strong movement in the cattle market this week. The east coast continued to receive rain, and flooding became severe in some western Queensland regions. Due to these weather conditions, cattle supply was dramatically reduced. Demand remained stable, which caused a jump in the market.

All indicators lifted 14–41¢ on last week. Yardings eased 31% (22,000 head) to 49,267. Victoria and WA were the only states to lift in yardings, whereas NSW and Queensland recorded 40% and 64% reductions, respectively.

The Processor Cow Indicator continues to benefit from strong demand and reduced supply. The closure of several saleyards across Queensland lifted competition across national saleyards as processor demand for cows remains strong. Starting strong in Wagga on Monday, up 30–50¢, the Processor Cow 33¢ to 319¢/kg liveweight (lwt) by the end of the week, the highest price since November 2022.

The Restocker Heifer Indicator lifted 30¢ to 325 ¢/kg lwt, closing the heifer-cow gap to 6¢. The Heavy Steer Indicator lifted 14¢ to 380¢/kg lwt, reaching its highest price since the end of 2023. At the same time, Feeder Steer and Restocker Yearling Steer Indicator lifted to 388¢ /kg lwt and 393 ¢/kg lwt, respectively.

Sheep market

The sheep market benefited from the weather system in NSW, with strong prices resulting from rainfall-constricted supply. National lamb yardings were down 18% to 171,344 head. This drop was largely driven by a 48,399 head reduction in NSW. Sheep yardings eased 10% to 91,316 head nationally.

All lamb indicators lifted between 26–118¢, with the Restocker Lamb Indicator lifting 80¢ to 777¢/kg carcase weight (cwt). This jump brought the indicator within 42¢ of both Trade and Heavy Lamb indicators, which landed on 812¢/kg cwt and 821¢/kg cwt respectively. The convergence of lamb prices reflects producer confidence in the ability to retain stock for weight over the coming weeks.

The National Mutton Indicator lifted again this week with the largest week-on-week lift on record, up 118¢ to 545¢/kg cwt (the highest price since June 2022). Processor demand for mutton was strong at the final sale of the week in Wagga, with all heavy ewes above $200 – some just shy of the $300 mark.

NSW drove much of the national lift, as yardings across both the Restocker and Mutton Indicators halved.

Slaughter

Week ending 28 March 2025

Processing numbers remained relatively stable for cattle and sheep. Impacts from the Queensland floods are expected to show in next week’s report for the week ending 4 April 2025.

Cattle slaughter dipped 1% to 147,577 head processed over the week. While reduced, throughput remains solid, tracking 13% above the same point in 2024. Substantial throughput was expected after consecutive disrupted weeks from long weekends and plant and port closures from ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred.

There were reductions across most states, with Victoria the only state to lift throughput, up 7% to 24,781 head. Eases in throughput were seen across all other states:

• NSW down 2% to 35,779
• Queensland down 2% to 76,005
• SA down 3% to 3,733
• Tasmania down 2% to 5,005
• WA down 9% to 2,274.

Lamb slaughter remained above the half-a-million mark for the second week, with 507,687 head processed, just 1% below the week prior. Supply of processor-ready lambs has remained solid, enabling strong figures. Victoria remained strong despite a 2% reduction in the state; numbers were at 258,281 head. Other states were varied in week-on-week changes:

• NSW down 2% to 122,801
• Tasmania down 2% to 9,959
• Queensland up 22% to 1,679 for its largest week since July 2024
• SA up 10% again this week to 62,326
• WA up 1% to 52,641.

Sheep slaughter reduced by 3% to 207,525 head, with varying movements across states. All states bar Victoria are tracking above the same time last year for sheep slaughter.

Attribute to: Erin Lukey, MLA Senior Market Information Analyst