Weekly Cattle Comments - Week ending Friday 1st March

AuctionsPlus commercial cattle listings fell by 10% to 16,743 head this week. The average values over reserve measure extended by $16 to $96/head, indicative of strong competition within lots that were favoured by buyers. The smaller offering was met with lower demand resulting in a slightly lower clearance rate and softer prices overall. The benchmark steer price fell 2% while the AYCI experienced a 5% fall.

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Cattle Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard

Steers

Steer prices were mixed with lighter steers receiving poorer prices and heavier Steers achieving better prices. Heavy Steers within 330-400kg and 400kg+ categories rose by $26/head and $34/head respectively. Clearance rates also remained almost unchanged for both weight classes. From Tumbarumba, NSW a line of 87 Angus steers aged 14 to 17 months old and weighing 397kg lwt returned $1450/head, or 366c/kg lwt. They will travel to a buyer in Toowoomba, QLD.

Heifers

Heifer offerings remained steady this week, as fewer head in lighter articles were offset by greater numbers of mid to heavier weighted Heifers. Heifers 400kg+ experienced a price increase of $63/head and clearance rate of 81%, up from 46% the week earlier. From Gunning, NSW a line of 63 Angus heifers aged 18 to 19 months old and weighing 447kg returned $1500/head, or 335c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Chiltern, VIC.

Breeding stock

This week saw a large offering of PTIC Cows, with 1725 head representing a 68% increase from last week. The increased supply did not place downward pressure on prices, with average prices rising by $279 to $1,725/head. Clearance rose 12 percentage points from last week to 48%. Notably, from Table Top VIC, a line of 30 Angus cows aged 3.5 years returned $2520/head, or 427c/kg lwt to a buyer in Crookwell, NSW.

Note: Prices as at 2pm Friday, 1st March 2024

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Cattle Prices

AuctionsPlus Interactive Cattle Market Report