Weekly Cattle Comments - Week ending Friday 10th May

This week's cattle comments comes to you from the AuctionsPlus team at Beef, 2024 at Rockhampton. While the industry gathered en masse in Queensland for the event, AuctionsPlus commercial cattle sales continued across the country.

This week listings fell by 18% to 12,208 head. The average Value Over Reserve jumped $19 to $95 and the clearance rate dropped 12 percentage points to 59%. The AuctionsPlus Young Cattle Indicator lifted 22 points to 358, meanwhile benchmark steers 280-330kg were up 22 to $1,100.

NSW and Queensland both listed and purchased more than 1000 head compared less than the previous week.

Processor activity purchased 9% of the offering.

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

Steers

Lighter steer categories enjoyed moderate price increases this week, but those weighing over 400kg were stung to the tune of an average of $166/head. The biggest gains were in the 280-330kg category, with a boost of $97/head average on last week.

From Coolah, NSW, a line of 103 Angus steers aged 7 to 9 months old and weighing 224kg returned $1010/head, or 450c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Tamworth, NSW.

Heifers

Heifer prices largely lifted this week, with gains from an average of $83/head to $101/head across the categories, apart from the 280-330kg range. In contrast to the steers, it was this category that suffered this week for heifers, which recorded an average price that was $93 lower than the previous week. 

From Capoompeta, NSW a line of 36 Angus heifers aged 15 to 18 months old and weighing 286kg returned $1040/head, or 364c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Armidale, NSW.

Breeding stock

Breeding stock saw large swings in prices from the previous week. SM and PTIC cows experienced the greatest gains at $155 and $137/head respectively, while SM heifers dropped an average of $322/head. 

From Cowra, NSW, a line of 38 Angus heifers aged 20 to 21 months old and weighing 503kg returned $2080/head, or 414c/kg lwt, will travel to a buyer in Trangie, NSW.

Note: Prices as at 2pm Friday, 10th May 2024

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Cattle Prices

AuctionsPlus Angus Table

AuctionsPlus Queensland Table

AuctionsPlus Interactive Cattle Market Report