OPINION: National Young Cattle Indicator offers complete view of nation’s restockers

Earlier this year, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) launched the National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI), an indicator that offers a complete view of the national young restocker market.

Since its launch in May, the NYCI has helped producers get a clear and focused view of the nation’s young cattle. I want to explain what the NYCI is and why it is so important, accurate and relevant for the beef industry.

The NYCI follows the same structure as other MLA indicators, presenting prices on a seven-day rolling average, expressed in cents per kilogram liveweight (¢/kg lwt) and is rounded to two decimal points.

The indicator is specified to vealer, weaner, and yearling heifers, steers and mixed pens purchased by restockers, with a liveweight from 200kg and Not Station Mated (NSM) for online sales.

A restocker is an industry term for a producer or agent who purchases livestock and returns them to a property.

The NYCI is designed to be the fit for purpose national restocker young cattle indicator. It is the only indicator that uses more than one sales channel (saleyard and online) to provide broader price coverage.

By aggregating sales channels across a national scale, it captures a broader market than the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) and Western Young Cattle Indicator (WYCI).

Early feedback from producers has been positive. They are particularly happy with the new refined indicator covering a restocker animal and reported in a liveweight basis. This is more fit for purpose than the EYCI which is a carcase weight, or a processor focused indicator. The NYCI was built for how producers trade, and cattle producers are getting positive use from it. 

Feedback from agents and traders has also been positive, with them saying that the information provided by the NYCI suits their practices better than previous indicators like the EYCI.

The EYCI is a widely used indicator. It has been calculating young cattle prices across the eastern states for decades. However, the EYCI has some limitations that the NYCI overcomes.

• Refined use: The EYCI covers young cattle purchased by restockers, processors and feedlot. When the EYCI was created it was a processor or finished product focused indicator and reported its figures in a cents per kilogram carcase weight. Over time, processor demand has shifted away from young cattle between 200-400 kg. The NYCI on the other hand, as a restocker only indicator, is more appropriate for a trader being a better representation of the restocker market.

• National coverage: The EYCI only covers the eastern mainland states, being Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland and animals transacted through saleyards. The NYCI covers national prices and includes all saleyard transactions across the country, as well as online transactions, a growing way customers transact cattle. The inclusion of online sales lifts indicator throughput, and brings in sales from a broader location base, not limited to saleyards and the regions surrounding them. By incorporating online sales alongside saleyards, the NYCI therefore covers more of the market and is more transparent.

• Lead Indicator: The EYCI has been used as the leading indicator for industry sentiment and perceptions towards future markets, despite the finished animal legacy. Now, as an indicator focused on restocker animals, broader coverage, and deeper market information, the NYCI is an accurate representative measure of forward-looking producer confidence in the market.

I encourage all to check out at the NYCI and its interactive tools. You can find it here: National Young Cattle Indicator.