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How have the recent floods affected yardings?
25 March 2021
Key points:
- Cattle yardings for the week are down 31.2%, with sheep yardings falling 25.2%
- The fall in yardings is the result of logistical issues caused by the recent record rainfall across eastern Australia
- The smaller yardings have pushed prices up, especially for cattle, with the EYCI rising 3.7% since last Friday.
Eastern Australia received a record deluge this week, causing widespread flooding to areas of NSW and Queensland. Areas of northern NSW received over 700mm across a three-day period.
The flooding has resulted in a significant number of road closures across both states. These road closures have limited many farms access’ to transport routes and saleyards. This led to reduced yardings, but no sales were cancelled due to the floods.
The fall in sheep yardings has been most pronounced in Yass and Dubbo, with yardings at these locations down on last week’s by 78% and 64%, respectively. Among the drop in sheep yardings at most NSW saleyards, throughput did increase in Tamworth and Cowra, up 48% and 41% week-on-week.
The rise in Cowra yardings demonstrates that producers are adapting to the logistical challenges they face and are consigning their stock to the most accessible saleyard, even if it is not the saleyard they usually sell through.
From a cattle perspective, the biggest drop in throughput was recorded at Moss Vale and Casino, where the number of cattle fell 79% and 73%, respectively, on week-ago levels. In terms of categories, the fall in yearling heifers and steers and grown steers were the most significant. Yardings of these categories fell 37%, 35% and 43%, respectively.
The reduced yardings have constricted the supply of available sheep and cattle. As a result, some categories have experienced price spikes this week. Restocker yearling steers increased the most, up 5.2%, highlighting this rain has spurred confidence in a rebuild.
Some key flood-induced price rises for indicators this week (from 19 March to 24 March) are:
- EYCI – 3.7% increase
- Feeding Yearling Steer – 2.6% increase
- Medium Steer – 2.2% increase
- Restocker Yearling Steer – 5.2% increase
- Heavy Lamb – 5.7% increase
- Merino Lamb – 2.8% increase
- Trade Lamb – 3.3% increase.
When the flood waters recede, yardings are expected to normalise.
© Meat & Livestock Australia Limited, 2021
