INDICATORS: EYCI continues upward trajectory

It’s that time of the week when we check in on some key indicators of performance in the livestock markets.

The Eastern States Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) lifted again this week. It was sitting at 907c/kg cwt on Friday morning, an increase of 9c for the week and up 82c from a month ago. That pushes the EYCI past the previous top of the year of 900c achieved in early September. It had dropped to 822c in late October and has made a stunning recovery this month. It still sits a long way from the record EYCI of 1163c achieved on January 12, 2022.

Source: Meat & Livestock Australia

Likewise, the National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI) has also been rising fast, by 11c/kg to 485c/kg on Friday morning. It is up 54c on the previous month and 151c on the same time last year.

The National Feeder Heifer Indicator (NFHI), which offers a dedicated lens into the feeder heifer market, was sitting at 442c/kg on Friday morning. It’s 5c up on last week, and 48c up on the previous month.

The Processor Cow Indicator experienced a small uplift after falling last week, and was 396c/kg on Friday morning. The top three contributors to this indicator were Dubbo, Dalby and Wagga.

If you’re in the market, there’s 18,000 head of cattle up for auction on AuctionsPlus today, an increase of 5,000 head on last week. There’s a second weaner and yearling sale to account for the largest offering.

Now, let’s turn to the sheep and lamb markets.

The Online Sheep Indicator (OSI) fell to $207/head, which was $25/head lower than last week, and $15/head lower than a month ago.

The AuctionsPlus Restocker Lamb Indicator (ARLI) continued to track higher, rising to $211/head for the week. This level represents a modest increase of $0.16 on last week, but more importantly extends the broader upward trend, sitting more than $16 above the month-ago level and nearly $80 above the same time last year. 

The Light Lamb Indicator lifted 17c to be 1,071c on Friday morning, which was 86c up on last month.