Cattle vs Footy: NSW and QLD breeds line-up ahead of AFL Grand Final

In the lead-up to the 2024 AFL Grand Final between the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans, APlus News have created a "starting nine" line-up of cattle breeds from New South Wales and Queensland.

The breed ranking has been selected upon the volume of listings offered across the platform since the start of 2024. However, several alternative performance indicators have been included to highlight the results recorded across the platform.

The ‘starting nine’ is a snapshot of all stock categories listed under each breed, which is important to keep in mind when considering the price points. Average prices are inclusive of all stock categories which can be influenced by higher value selling articles.

Looking at the figures over the past year from January 1, 2024, to September 24, 2024, NSW have offered a greater volume of listings, with Angus cattle dominating the listings numbers across both states.

However, over the past nine months Queensland have listed 19,626 head of Angus cattle. This years offerings have already surpassed the 16,791 head of Angus cattle listed on the platform in 2023.

The NSW starting nine

The Angus breed leads by volume with 155,515 head at an average price of $1,396 and a 79% clearance rate. Meanwhile, Santa Gertrudis articles topped the clearance rate chart at 89%.

The Santa Gertrudis breed also records the highest average price per head at $1,498, with the price over reserve averaging 15.36% above set reserve rates, indicating strong competition for Santa articles.

Santa Gertrudis articles this year have also recorded the highest value over reserve (VOR) at $286, which is an average of 15.4% above set reserves. Hereford's had the second highest value over reserve, achieving an average of $222.

This highlights strong demand for Angus, but higher premium potential in Santa Gertrudis over the past nine months.

The QLD starting nine

Similarly to NSW, the Angus breed has dominated Queensland listings with 19,626 head offered, averaging $1,220/head and achieving a high clearance rate of 84%.

The Santa Gertrudis breed has performed strongly, with a $1,236/head average price and the highest clearance rate of 89%. The Santa Gertrudis breed has achieved the highest clearance rate across both NSW and QLD.

Droughtmaster’s saw 12,810 head listed across the platform, averaging $1,149/head, with a healthy clearance rate of 69%.

Top Listing/buying regions: NSW

The top listing regions for New South Wales over the past year has been dominated by the northern NSW regions with Walcha, Uralla, Armidale, Barraba within the top nine listing towns. 

Meanwhile, Western NSW has held a strong presence listing across the platform as the town Warren was the top listing destination of Shorthorn steers 200-280kg.

However, the top buying towns were dominated by the northern NSW regions with Armidale, Inverell and Barraba purchasing in volumes across the platform.

Walcha was the highest listing town of Angus steers weighing 200-280kg, with Armidale as the top purchasers. Whilst, mixed sexed Wagyu/Angus articles were predominantly listed and purchased in Barraba.

Santa Gertrudis articles were most commonly listed from the Armidale region and sold to buyers in Inverell. Pregnancy tested in calf (PTIC) heifers were the top stock category from the Santa Gertrudis articles traded across the platform.

The top stock category traded in NSW was steers in the 200-280kg weight range. However, a heavier range of Hereford steers weighing 330-400kg were shown to travel south. The Hereford steers travelled from their top listing town of Coolah to Lavington, the top purchasing town for the category.

Top Listing/buying regions: QLD

The top buying towns in Queensland represented a more varied spread of locations from Goondiwindi to Richmond. The most popular listed category of cattle was steers in the 200-280kg range, where backgrounding and feedlot operations are within closer proximity to these vendors.

The top purchasing and listing town for Angus steers weighing 200-280kg was Goondiwindi.

The top listing region for Brahman cattle weighing 200-280kg was Richmond with Gympie the top purchasers.

The top listing town of Brangus steers weighing 200-280kg was Augathella, which had a dominant line of movement into Central Queensland with the town of Moura in Queensland’s Banana Shire as the top purchaser.

Just as AFL teams meticulously select their starting line-ups, cattle producers and buyers also make careful choices regarding the breeds and weight categories that best suit their operational goals.