Water adds confidence to cattle
Much like many paddocks across Australia after recent rains, the national cattle indicators are a sea of green. All categories rose from the previous week (bar the restocker yearling heifer), as well as being up from four weeks ago and of course year-on-year. And this was on the back of yardings and slaughter actually increasing. […]
Return to normal volumes boost prices
The Wool market rose again this week by 51¢ taking the EMI to 1767¢. Supply this week was lower after the previous weeks return sale from Lunar new year break. The result was significant price improvement across the board as buyers scrambled to secure stock and pass in rates dropped dramatically to just 2.1%. This […]
Rain boosts price, light lambs miss out
Supply side support came from some much-needed rainfall but conflict in the Middle East did impact demand side intentions. The result was a mixed bag of higher trade and heavy lamb prices and a decline in the light lamb market. The conflict in the Middle East presents some unique challenges for the lamb and sheep […]
Conflicting impacts on profitability
It feels like déjà vu writing about another conflict starting and the potential impacts on agricultural inputs and outputs. This time it’s Iran, not a producer of grain or oilseed, but a big producer of a somewhat related commodity, oil. The number being bandied around, in terms of the impact of conflict in Iran on […]
WA flock in freefall
There has been plenty of speculation about current sheep and lamb flock sizes, but while we wait for new data and market signals to give us further indication, we can look at the demand side of the equation, and how we are currently filling it. Live sheep exports, while historically much lower in the past […]
The rise of grain fed cattle continues
There is plenty going on in the world and locally which could move cattle markets. Ever rising tensions in the Middle East will have impacts on energy and input costs, while rain across vast inland areas could tighten supply. There has also been some data drops recently, today we look at feedlots, and the continual […]
Another look at the implications of an El Nino on rainfall
The mention of an El Nino has the scribes seeking forecasts and projections for agricultural commodities through production to price. This article takes a look at what an El Nino forecasts, using rainfall from various regions since 1979. Mecardo has covered the implications of El Nino to rainfall before in May 2023 (See article here). […]
Heavy lambs hot property
Whether or not you received the forecast weather this week, the sheep and lamb market certainly responded as if it had gotten some rain. All indicators increased between 11¢/kg and 44¢/kg as both yardings and slaughter numbers moved in the other direction. The supply and demand equation between now and mid-winter looks as though it […]
Short covering heralds a shift
I’ll admit to being a bit surprised to see the wheat market continue to rally over the past week. The return to work after the Chinese Lunar New Year and little in the way of fundamental issues to drive the market, I presumed it would be a quiet week. However, money doesn’t sleep and the […]
Market steady as the south patiently waits it’s turn for a drink
Prices tracked sideways as the trade waits in anticipation of some rainfall to reach the dry southern cattle regions. Indicative NLRS yardings early Friday has supply 5% lower week on week but the drop in numbers likely wasn’t the driver for price this week. With slaughter demand continuing to hover at the current cycle heights […]
Sustained slaughter for strong beef sector
Final quarter livestock slaughter and production data is now available for 2025, offering insight to the October to December period, and the annual figures. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics livestock products drop confirmed last year’s cattle slaughter was at its highest level since 1978 and beef production reached record highs. The consistency of both […]
Canola premium to swing some hectares
We recently had a query which came across the desk, (so to speak – in an email to be exact), which asked if canola would take some acres off barley this year. In this article we will look at historical relationships between price and plantings and see if we can find a pointer. Figure 1 […]