Weekly Cattle Comments -12.08.22

Market fundamentals came to the fore in the AuctionsPlus commercial cattle market this week, as a significant reduction in supplies spurred buyer competition, pushing prices higher, with “perfect” clearance rates registered across several categories this week. With only 5,153 head offered across the two commercial cattle sales, down 34% on last week, you could almost hear producers yelling “I don’t like the prices…I’m holding”.

For the first two weeks of August, only 12,993 head of cattle have been offered through the main commercial sales. In the same period in 2021, it was 34,770 head. Is the 63% decline year-on-year for the two-week period a measure of producer expectations that the price will rebound into spring, or a reflection of the market trading that occurred through the winter of 2021? Producer feedback is that it is clearly more about rebound expectations, with the seasonal outlook enabling the flexibility to hold and wait. With the reduced supply in the past two weeks, has come a resurgence in clearance rates and final prices exceeding reserve levels.

The smaller weekly offering was met with furious competition as clearance rates exceeded 90% for all young cattle categories. 200-280kg steers kicked $133 higher on last week, to $1,605/head – with a 95% clearance rate for the 724 head offered. From Condamine, Southern Queensland, a line of 120 Angus steers aged 6-9-months-old and averaging 276kg lwt returned $1,850/head.

Table 1: AuctionsPlus National Weekly Cattle Prices
Table 2: AuctionsPlus Queensland Weekly Cattle Prices
Table 3: AuctionsPlus Angus Weekly Cattle Prices

A very limited offering of 184 280-330kg steers sold to a 100% clearance rate, as the average price edged $10 higher on last week, to $1,797/head. From Urunga, NSW North Coast, a line of 35 Angus steers aged 9-10-months-old and averaging 301kg lwt returned $2,000/head - $200 above the reserve price. 330-400kg steers slipped $7 lower on last week, to $2,048/head, with a 98% clearance rate for the 339 head offered. From Ruffy, Northern Victoria, a line of 13 Red Angus steers aged 9-10-months-old and averaging 361kg lwt returned $1,950/head.

A comparatively larger offering of feeder steers sold to a 100% clearance rate, with the 640 head averaging $69 higher on last week, to $2,218/head. From Winton, Western Queensland, a line of 312 Charbray/Charolais cross steers aged 14-28-months-old and averaging 419kg lwt returned $2,160/head - $360 over the reserve price.

While clearance rates remained very high through the young heifer lines, there was a little more price volatility, with the 280-330kg lines averaging $233 lower on last week, averaging $1,720/head – even with a 93% clearance rate for the 439 head offered. 200-280kg lines averaged $1,575/head for the week, up $149 on last week, with all but 32 of the 899 head offered being snapped up.

330-400kg heifers averaged $168 higher for the week, to $2,103/head, with a 96% clearance rate for the 344 head offered. From Yelarbon, Southern Queensland, a line of 37 Angus heifers aged 12-13-months-old and averaging 357kg lwt returned the top price of $2,400/head - $600 over the reserve price.

The lowest PTIC heifer offering in years contributed to the price kicking $410 higher on last week, to average $2,558/head – with a 96% clearance rate for the 512 head offered. From Ashford, NSW, a line of 53 Angus PTIC heifers aged 18-22-months-old, averaging 396kg lwt and pregnant to Wagyu bulls returned $2,650/head - destined for Taroom, Queensland.

From Toobeah, Southern Queensland, a line of Charolais/Charolais cross cows PTIC to Angus bulls, aged 6-14-years-old and averaging 584kg lwt returned $2,700/head - $900 over the reserve price.

From Gundagai, NSW, a line of 22 Angus cows with 22 calves at foot returned $3,100/head - $500 over the reserve price. The cows ranged from 3-8-years-old and weighed an average 525kg lwt, while the calves sired by Angus bulls were aged 1-3-weeks-old and weighed an average 77kg lwt.

NOTE: Prices as at 2pm, Friday 12^th August 2022