It’s that time of the week when we check in on some key indicators of performance in the livestock markets.
Widespread rain across northern Australia disrupted key cattle sales this week, driving national yardings sharply lower and lifting most cattle indicators, according to Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA).
The Eastern States Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) lifted this week. It was sitting at 856.84c/kg cwt on Friday morning, an increase of 2.46c for the week, and up 187.12c on last year.
The National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI) also lifted this week, rising to 456.88c/kg on Friday morning. It is up 104.18c 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 414.05c/kg on Friday morning. It’s up 4.46c on last week.
The Processor Cow Indicator was 360.85c/kg on Friday morning, down 3.82c on last week. The top three contributors to this indicator were Wagga, Dubbo and Gunnedah.
For those keeping an eye on the broader market shifts, there’s plenty more on the new APlus News homepage.
Let’s turn to the sheep and lamb markets.
MLA reported sheep and lamb yardings also declined while prices eased, and cattle slaughter fell after last week recorded the second-highest weekly throughput in six years.
The Online Sheep Indicator (OSI) lifted to $233.62/head, which was $24.98/head firmer than last week, and $130.24/head greater than a year ago.
The Light Lamb Indicator softened by 8.48c over the past week, to be 1,067.68c on Friday morning, which was 350.27c up on last year. The top contributors were Wagga, Forbes and Bendigo.
Meanwhile the Heavy Lamb Indicator fell 34.76c over the past week to be sitting at 1,046.06c/kg cwt.