INDICATORS: How sheep and cattle markets have opened the year

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) opened the year at 849c/kg on Friday morning, down 12c from a month ago. However, was up 142c on the same time last year.

Meanwhile, the National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI) opened the year at 428.38c/kg cwt. It is down 35c on the previous month and up 88c 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 431c/kg on Friday morning. It’s up 19c on the previous month.

The Processor Cow Indicator has started the year at 386c/kg cwt on Friday morning. The top three contributors to this indicator were Dubbo, Mortlake and Mount Gambier.

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

The Trade Lamb Indicator opened the year at 1,071c/kg on Friday morning. That's up 0.7c on the month, and 257c on the same time last year.

The AuctionsPlus Restocker Lamb Indicator (ARLI) opened at $201/head, or 1,233c/kg DW, well above long-term averages and reflective of resilient restocker demand heading into the new year.

The Light Lamb Indicator has commenced the first week of the year sitting at 1,031c on Friday morning, which was 3c higher than last month.

The Restocker Lamb Indicator sat at 1,083c,/kg on Friday morning, which is also 21c up on a month ago and 343c up on this time last year.

The Heavy Lamb Indicator opened the year at 1,071c. This is 4c/kg back on the same time last month.