Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap
03 May 2024
Key points:
- Growing interest in yearling steers and heifers returning to the paddock has led to prices lifting for the majority of indicators.
- Exporters have returned to the market, lifting prices for all indicators across the board.
- Cattle slaughter eased by 25,262 to 109,213 head, following the public holiday on Thursday.
Cattle
The cattle market has generally trended positively, except the Restocker Yearling Steer Indicator and Feeder Steer Indicator which both eased by 5¢. Yardings have lifted by 19,668 to 58,524 head – a 29% increase in yardings. Market reports indicate that yardings have been mixed, potentially impacting price.
The Heavy Steer Indicator lifted by 21¢ to 292¢/kg liveweight (lwt). Yardings lifted by 338 to 1,370 head. With more export buyers present and active at saleyards, the lack of well-finished export-ready cattle combined with the mixed quality of yardings has limited price potential.
The Restocker Yearling Steer eased by 0.5¢ to 331¢/kg lwt, and prices lifted in NSW and Victoria and eased in Queensland. There has been growing interest in yearling steers and heifers returning to the paddock, with many lighter cattle being sold cheaper compared to medium to heavy weight cattle.
Sheep
The sheep market ended positively this week with all indicators in the green, driven by lot feeders and restockers, as well as improved rainfall. Yardings have lifted by 108,871 to 279,833 head, a 78% increase in lamb yardings, and a 35% increase in sheep yardings.
The Heavy Lamb Indicator lifted by 5¢ to 683¢/kg carcase weight (cwt), yardings lifted by 19,778 to 39,641 head. Export buyers have returned to the market desiring larger export-ready weight lambs, but competition was inconsistent, leading to a very slight price increase.
The Light Lamb Indicator rose by 40¢ to 560¢/kg cwt, with Wagga contributing 15% to the indicator. According to market reports, an uptick in prices has been driven by processors demanding bagged lamb for the Middle East market as those destinations open up again.
Slaughter
Week ending 26 April 2024
Cattle slaughter eased by 25,262 to 109,213 head, a reduction of 19% across all states due to the ANZAC public holiday. Next week slaughter should return to around 130,000 head a week, continuing to track about 10–20% above 2023 figures. Slaughter is 11% above the figures for the same time in 2023 (an increase of 10,732 head).
Lamb and sheep slaughter declined by 124,431 to 567,978 head, largely due to a 98,353 head reduction in lamb slaughter. There were significant reductions in lamb slaughter, with Victoria easing by 35,733 to 203,150 head and NSW slaughter easing by 31,473 to 95,690 head. Sheep slaughter and a 1,696 head increase in Victoria.
