EYCI rise continues

The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator kept climbing, again reaching its highest point since the first half of 2022 and closing the week at 1020c/kg. More than a quarter of the EYCI throughput came out of the Roma store sale, which still achieved a premium above the indicator at 1036c/kg. The National Livestock Reporting Service quoted numbers at Roma dropping from the previous sale but good quality on offer, with local backgrounders dominating the steer buying and steers under 330kg rising up to 27c/kg. Restocker heifers also lifted about 30c/kg, with a majority of the orders headed south to NSW.

After sitting just shy of 80,000 head last week, national yardings fell back below Meat and Livestock Australia’s rolling three-year-average to the lowest weekly total for the year so far (not impacted by a public-holidays) and about 15% below the same week last year. Longer term, supply is still strong, however, with this week sitting 21% and 23% above the five and 10-year average figures respectively. Despite it feeling like a supply crunch in June after a surge in May, looking at monthly totals (with a couple of trading days still left in June) shows us that May throughput was about 40,000 head less than the same month in 2025, while June will be less than 20,000 head fewer through the yards.

Feeder steers also hit their peak for 2026 at 542ckg, rising 13c/kg for the week and having picked up 45c/kg in the past month – the biggest jump of any major indicator – while feeder heifers rose 14c/kg to 491c/kg. As with most categories, almost all the processor cows came out of NSW and Qld, and there were more than 2000 less through the national indicator week-on-week. This only prompted a national price rise of 2c/kg, with NSW lifting 10c/kg and Qld dropping 9c/kg. Cows are only sitting at a 85c/kg premium to the same time last year, and heavy steers at 105c/kg, while all other national indicators are around 150c/kg higher, a good indication of the restocker demand which is driving current prices.