INDICATORS: Restocker lambs lift and heifers maintain headway
27 February 2025
Large numbers of heifers continue to be sold in Australian livestock markets. Pic: AgriShots
An article by Alex McLaughlin
The National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI) is bouncing back, lifting 3.66c/kg liveweight in the past week to be 360.30c/kg on Thursday evening. It remains 16.86 back on the previous month and 29.78 higher than the same time last year.
The NYCI is a seven-day rolling average of young cattle sold across all NLRS-reported saleyards and Australia’s suite of online livestock marketplaces.
Roma Store Sales, recording an average price of 354.27c/kg, accounted for the largest portion - around 30% - of the calculation this week, with NSW Online sales recording an increased offering of 3,725 head, to account for the second largest portion of the calculation.
Yearling heifers remained the largest category included, with an increased 5,636 head, back up from 4,038 heifers last week, averaging 328c/kg, a 13.26c/kg price boost from last week.
Meanwhile, The Eastern States Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI), a seven-day rolling average of young cattle from 23 saleyards across Queensland, NSW and Victoria, was sitting at 653.15 cents per kilogram dressed on Thursday evening, down 16.17c for the week, up 12.14 from a month ago and up 25.69 on last year.
In the sheep markets, the restocker lamb indicator was sitting at 746.51 cents per kilogram dressed on Thursday evening, a rise of 45.04 week on week, with the heavy lamb indicator 807.70 cents per kilogram dressed, a further decrease of 4.77 for the week but an increase of 159.73 compared to the same time last year.
The Merino lamb indicator showed some resilience this week, lifting to 590.10 cents per kilogram dressed, or 36.11 lower than a week ago, and the mutton indicator also lifted to 380.48 cents per kilogram dressed, or 40.86 cents greater than the same time last week.
