2024 a year of recovery for lamb?

It’s that time of year when we dust off the crystal ball and take a look at what markets are likely to do in 2024. There are plenty of unknowns amongst fundamental drivers of sheep and lamb markets, but at least supply is something we can get some sort of handle on. Looking back at […]
A Look ahead for grain and oilseed markets

This year has been one of relatively consistent price declines for grain and oilseed markets. Coming out of a season where we reached record levels (driven largely by geo-political factors) this is no surprise, but now that markets have adjusted, where are we headed next year? Grain markets are highly volatile, and the previous two […]
Herd tracking sideways despite slaughter growth

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) quarterly ‘Livestock Products’ report was released recently. The ABS numbers give the official numbers of cattle slaughtered and beef produced, and while we can get an idea from the weekly Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) figures, the official numbers are well worth investigating. While there has been plenty of […]
Barley shows upside as harvest is held up

2023 Winter crop harvest has stalled with rainfall on the East Coast dampening progress. There is still plenty of grain and oilseed to still come off. There hasn’t been a real reaction on the price front as a result. The market is tracking sideways, but there are signs of upside for Barley. Harvesters went hard […]
Future breeders moving off farm?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its quarterly Livestock Products report last week, and while we can get some indications from weekly data, the quarterly government data allows us to delve deeper. There were some significant records broken in September. Anyone who shows any interest in sheep and lamb markets will have known supply […]
A halt to harvest

If you’re reading this, you’re interested in grain prices, and as such, you’ll likely have seen the weather forecast for the coming week. With rain forecast to fall all up and down the East Coast cropping zone, harvest is likely to pull up. What will this do to prices? Harvest grain pricing is inherently volatile, […]
US feeders triple the value of Australian cattle.

US cattle prices have come off peaks a little in the last week, but they remain at extreme highs. Here we give an update on how far behind the US we are, and look for potential upside at saleyard levels. The spreadsheet used for this analysis is called ‘Any support from record US prices’. It […]
Rising corn and oilseed supplies

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) Report was released late last week. There was little movement in wheat forecasts, but there were some unexpected increases in corn and soybean markets. Figure 1 shows only minor changes in global wheat production, consumption, and stocks, however, there were some […]
Prices lower as harvest rolls on

Harvest is off to a flyer this year. Graincorp has already produced three harvest updates, with the latest released on Monday. Last year the first harvest update didn’t come until the 16th of November. Figure 1 shows Graincorp’s grain receivals by state for the last three weeks. The Queensland harvest is all but over, with […]
Lamb exports running hot

While prices for lambs aren’t great, and mutton is still depressed, the good news is that at least the heavy lamb production from strong slaughter rates is still finding a home in export markets. More lamb is finding a home in the Middle East, which is good for prices down the track. Here are a […]
Retail red meat retreating

If you’ve been into a supermarket lately you have probably noticed more specials on beef and lamb, creeping into the red meat cabinet. If you look closely you’ll still find premium cuts at the $40/kg plus price point, but Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data tells us meat has followed saleyards lower in September, albeit […]
Where is Barley going?

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has an easily accessible database for all things Agricultural production. This week we pulled out the data on Australia’s major winter crops and had a look at where Australia’s cereal crops end up. Wheat is our largest cropping commodity, and consumption closely follows production. Figure 1 shows production, […]