Western Australia leads with quality over quantity in FY2025

Western Australia’s activity on AuctionsPlus has been quietly consistent over FY2025, with clear regional hubs commonly listing both sheep and cattle online, which has told a pricing story that rewarded well-finished cattle despite tighter volumes.

Sheep and lamb supply was anchored firmly in the Great Southern and the South West. Across the state’s delivery regions, South Western WA accounted for the largest share of WA sheep and lamb throughput at 37%, closely followed by the Lower Great Southern WA on 36%. The Midlands WA contributed a further 20%, with the Upper Great Southern WA rounding out the balance at 7%.

Taken together, the Great Southern footprint supplied nearly three-quarters of all WA listings on AuctionsPlus this year, consistent with its reputation for large, well-bred Merino and crossbred drafts. 

Cattle activity is smaller in absolute terms but concentrated and efficient. Within WA, South Western WA carried the lion’s share of cattle listings at 80% of the state’s throughput, followed by the Lower Great Southern WA at 17% and the Midlands WA at 3%.

In the national context, WA accounted for just 0.13% of Australia’s total cattle throughput on AuctionsPlus this financial year. Even with that modest share, WA sellers have been competitive on quality: the AYCI peaked for WA (May 11, 2025) at 415.7c/kg liveweight, with an average weight of 308kg, noticeably heavier than the national average of around 286kg over FY2025. Heavier carcase potential at sale is a quiet positive for WA vendors, signalling well-grown stock meeting the market despite fewer listings.

Price signals at the top end also show WA packs a punch when premium lines hit the ring. Standouts include the top-priced line of station-mated (SM) heifers from WA, which sold for an average of $1,930/head.

Listing of seven station-mated heifers who returned $1,930. Pic: Supplied via AuctionsPlus.

These were Angus heifers offered by Happy Valley Grazing in the Lower Great Southern region, and assessed by Col Thexton, one of AuctionsPlus' most active agents in WA. The 100% Angus heifers based on Little Meadows genetics and averaged 481kg, and were listed at 21 months old. 

WA’s heavier average listings suggest local turn-off has skewed a touch more to mid-weights and grown stock when offered, which may align with the pasture and feedbase advantage in the South West and Great Southern across late winter and spring.