Weekly Cattle Comments - 01.09.23

There has been a significant improvement in clearance rates across lamb, sheep and cattle sales on AuctionsPlus this week. AuctionsPlus commercial cattle listings slipped 17% to 7,497 head, while clearance jumped 14 percentage points to 48%. Young cattle prices continued to slide, which suggests that the improvement in clearance rate is due to widespread adjustments to reserve prices. The urgency of a successful sale has increased as drier conditions put pressure on carrying capacity.

Value Over Reserve increased substantially as well, assisted by a number of breeding stock lines outperforming expectations. September/October is the peak season for listings of NSM heifers & calves and NSM cows & calves following spring calving and before joining. These categories saw listings increase by 10-18% and prices per head increase $346-$452.

Young cattle categories lost further ground this week as restocker demand remains subdued. Feedlot buyers were active on the heavier steer categories, securing 46% of the 330-400kg steers and 56% of the 400kg+ steers. If we look specifically at Angus cattle, 50% of all steers sold online were secured by feedlot buyers.

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Cattle Prices
Table 2: AuctionsPlus Queensland Cattle Prices
Table 3: AuctionsPlus Angus Cattle Prices
Report: Interactive Market Dashboard

Steers

Steers 200.1-280kg registered a smaller offering of 1,102 head and averaged $756/head - down $60 from last week for a 69% clearance. Prices ranged from 247 - 352c and averaged 307c/kg lwt. From St George, QLD two lines of a total 178 Angus/Angus/Santa steers aged 6 to 9 months old and weighing 246kg returned $810/head, or 330c/kg lwt.

Steers 330.1-400kg registered a smaller offering of 629 head and averaged $1,098/head - down $54 from last week for a 58% clearance. Prices ranged from 243 - 335c and averaged 301c/kg lwt. From Gundowring, VIC a line of 22 Hereford/Hereford steers aged 11 to 12 months old and weighing 356kg returned $1,170/head, or 329c/kg lwt.

Heifers

Heifers 200.1-280kg registered a smaller offering of 716 head and averaged $517/head - down $90 from last week for a 72% clearance. Prices ranged from 179 - 334c and averaged 224c/kg lwt. From Holbrook, NSW a line of 30 Angus/Angus heifers aged 11 to 12 months old and weighing 261kg returned $630/head, or 241c/kg lwt and will travel to a buyer in Hexham, VIC.

Heifers 330.1-400kg registered a larger offering of 587 head and averaged $929/head - down $9 from last week for a 30% clearance. Prices ranged from 220 - 324c and averaged 255c/kg lwt. From Geranium, SA a line of 24 Angus/Angus heifers aged 12 to 16 months old and weighing 388kg returned $1,118/head, or 288c/kg lwt.

Breeding Stock

PTIC Heifers registered a smaller offering of 439 head and averaged $1,126/head - up $56 from last week for a 11% clearance. From Drumborg, SA a line of 28 Angus/Angus heifers aged 18 to 24 months old and weighing 465kg returned $1,300/head.

NSM Heifers & Calves registered a larger offering of 252 head and averaged $1,886/head - up $346 from last week for a 50% clearance. From Cowra, NSW a line of 31 Angus/Angus NSM heifers with calves at foot aged 24 to 25 months old and weighing 493kg returned $2,220/head, $420 over the reserve price.

Note: Prices as at 2pm Friday, 1st September 2023

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Cattle Prices

Table 2: AuctionsPlus Queensland Cattle Prices

Table 3: AuctionsPlus Angus Cattle Prices

AuctionsPlus Interactive Cattle Market Report