Shorn sheep surcharge

Shorn lamb in long paddock

Supply lifted on the week prior for both lamb and sheep, which weighed slightly on the value of the indicators. Isolated rain fell on the southeast coast, with significant rain on the northern third, which has caused flooding. Quality is making the movements within indicators quite erratic, with not all buyers operating despite being present […]

The Cattle Market’s January Joyride

Cows in a field

The final selling week of the month had one less day with the Monday Australia Day public holiday. Value and volume took a dive this week compared to the week prior, with a significant reduction in yardings. When looking at January as a whole, 2025 has made an impressive start. Yardings for the week fell […]

Supply shortage sandbag price falls.

With the final full-selling week of January ending, the lamb market continued to find its new equilibrium of supply and demand. Unfortunately for producers, this saw the value of all indicators fall week on week. There was a large reduction in the number of head moving through the yards this week, which helped offset the […]

Northern buyers buy big

Nutrien Ag Solutions cattle saleyard.

The cattle market continued its strong start to 2025, with most price indicators rising from last week’s starting point. Spurred by favourable rain, it was the demand from the northern buyers that helped shore up the demand side. The market is experiencing large supply increases week on week, as more participants return from their festive […]

Back with a bang!

The cattle market much like the New Year’s Eve fireworks opened with a bang with the majority of indicators hitting 12-month highs in value. Demand was strong at the rail, supported by a tighter supply side as not everyone is back in operation just yet. Rain on the forecast for the east coast will likely […]

Restockers up the ante

Spurred by widespread rain on the East coast and plenty of quality pens; restockers and processors clashed at the rail sending prices skywards. One more sale week remains for 2024 before the Christmas shutdown with the market operating at elevated levels. Quality drove the prices, with many saleyard reports mentioning erratic markets for some of […]

Demand spurred on by Rain

Traditional economic theory was at play this week with the value of the indicators moving in the opposite direction of their supply. In short – yardings fell and prices rose. What also fell was rain, across most of the Eastern Seaboard and isolated areas of WA, the BOM has forecasted more next week as well. […]

Southern supply begins to gallop

All price indicators lost value week on week for the first selling week of November, despite steady total saleyard throughput. Lamb numbers are beginning to pick up in southern saleyards as the late season begins to hit its stride. Just like the grain harvest currently underway, the season starts in the north and creeps south […]

Sunshine State shines the brightest

Heavy rain in the southern areas of Queensland sent the restockers on a buying spree along with export buyers at the other end of the scale. The increase in demand and a slight tightening in supply saw modest gains in price for the final selling week of October, with Queensland leading the pack. On the […]

Double digit gains

Sheep transport vehicle

Prices lifted sharply this selling week, with multiple categories making double-digit percentage gains on the week prior. Northern buyers took over their southern counterparts, who had led the market in recent weeks as the more dominant buying group. Rain fell in the Eastern lower third of the nation which helped bring some restockers back to […]

Supply heads towards the norm

Cattle mob in a green paddock

A full week saw yardings jump which put downward pressure on prices, with the majority of indicators losing value on the week prior. According to some saleyard reports, the quality of the pens was not what it has been in recent weeks, causing some buyers to pull back. The Eastern States Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) […]

Heavy lambs win the week

The lamb and sheep indicators were quite inelastic this week, with large swings in supply having less impact on the value. Restockers were very active in the market when compared to the last few weeks. New season lamb continues to build in numbers, whilst still commanding a premium thanks to buyers’ pursuit for quality. The […]