Water adds confidence to cattle

It will also likely boost restocker activity in the market, and for some areas there will be nothing short term about that. Annual rainfall in one event falling in parts of South Australia and western NSW will no doubt spark restocking demand in the near future, while the impact of rain falling during the annual Mountain calf sales in Victoria was fairly immediate, with reports of improved returns on last year.

The major indicator’s price rise wasn’t huge over the past week, but it was still significant, especially in relation to the number of cattle going through the system. East coast yardings were up 2% this week, which was 26% higher than the same week last year, and about 20,000 more than Meat & Livestock Australia’s rolling two-year average. Slaughter also rose last week, albeit very marginally, however it pushed it to nearly 6% above the year-ago figure and 33% above the five-year average. The weekly MLA reported figures for the year-to-date are now sitting just 2% below the same period in 2025.

The National Young Cattle Indicator continued its upward trajectory, back to about where it closed 2025, at 485¢/kg. NSW online sales made up more than 30% of the throughput, or about 6500, and averaged 500¢/kg, while Roma Store and QLD online sales were the next biggest “yardings” and both averaged above the national indicator. The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator jumped 24¢/kg for the week, to close at 882¢/kg, with Roma Store having 21% of the throughput and averaging 915¢/kg.

Heavy cows and steers, as well as feeder steers, all lifted 9-10¢/kg for the week, representing a 14-16¢/kg lift over the past four weeks. About 40% of all national feeder steer indicator throughput came out of Queensland, and that state operated at a 6¢/kg premium to the average,  The AuctionsPlus Young Cattle Indicator was averaging 996¢/kg carcass weight at the end of last week, and it will be interesting to see where that lands after today’s cattle sale.