Cattle price rise at Warwick Saleyards gives new confidence to battling Southern Downs producers

One of the most profitable cattle sales in years has sent confidence soaring for farmers in Warwick and the Southern Downs as they continue to recover from the devastating drought.

Cattle prices increase at the Warwick Saleyards as producers flooded the market. Photo: Michael Nolan / NRM

A steep increase in livestock prices at the Warwick Saleyards has proven a huge boost in both funds and morale for Southern Downs producers, who are still struggling to recover after years of devastating drought.

Reports from Meat and Livestock Australia show that calves sold at the Warwick cattle sale earlier this month for $3460 per unit, which is 25 per cent more than the unit price of $2600 in December last year.

McDougall and Sons stock agent Dennis Bourke said the increase in cattle sales were beneficial for his clients.

“For the people selling cattle it certainly helps their profit margin for the year,” he said.

“It certainly put a fair bit of confidence in them and is a snowballing effect as they’re able purchase some more replacement cattle.”

Mr Bourke said the rise in value was driven by a lack of supply after farmers destocked to combat the onslaught of expenses at the height of the drought.

“Back in 2019, so many (cows) were sold because of the drought, and a lot of farmers haven’t replaced the cows so there is a shorter number of breeders stock,” he said.

Southern Downs farmer Mary Scurr said her farms Donvale and Stanmar were severely affected by drought for over 18 months.

“Every morning you would look out and see no clouds in the sky and think it’s not going to rain today,” she said.

Mrs Scurr said the drought forced her to sell off close to a third of her 500 animals so she could afford to feed her remaining stock.

“We finished off any steers we could by fattening them and selling them of that way,” she said.

Since the farm received some heavy downpours in December last year and earlier in 2021, Mrs Scurr said things were looking up and she’d managed to sell her cattle at far higher prices than expected.

“Everything looks rosy now and hopefully if it keeps raining, it will keep improving,” she said.

“The prices are gradually sneaking up each week, 12 months ago we wouldn’t have gotten half of what we got for them,” she said.

This comes as Southern Downs cattle producers expect their most successful breeding season ever next month, as their farms benefit from this year’s positive weather conditions.