Young cattle in demand while lamb gains form

Cattle prices were firm to higher this week despite many centres reporting plainer quality, while lamb markets finally gained some form.

LIMITED prime cattle supplies and northern restockers pushing south for young steers and heifers have kept the market buoyant this week.

Prices were firm to higher at major markets on Monday, despite many centres reporting plainer quality, as cattle start to show the effects of the dry and cooling weather.

On the demand side, the latest export pricing shows a jump in value of grinding beef into the US which underpins cow values and boosts export slaughter cattle.

Prices for 90 chemical lean grinding beef into the US is now tracking above 700c/kg shipped, which is the highest level seen in the past year.

Cows were one of the strongest performers at auction on Monday.

At Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina the best high-yielding beef cows were quoted at 300c/kg to a top of 340c/kg liveweight, or 10c/kg dearer than a week ago, according to the National Livestock Reporting Service.

The overall result for 691 cows assessed by the NLRS in the Wagga Wagga market was an average of 313c/kg, or $1916.

The southern cow market has also begun the week on a high, prices lifting by 10-20c/kg at Pakenham to a top of 345c/kg for cows going to slaughter.

The average for 343 cows sold at Pakenham was 282c/kg or $1571. This market has more crossbred and dairy types than Wagga Wagga.

Further good news on the export front was a spike of 10c/kg to 20c/kg for grown steers selling to processors at Pakenham.

This pushed pens of good grown steers from 387c/kg to a top of 423c/kg to average $2424 across 69 head at an average sell price of 397c/kg, NLRS data showed.

For trade weight cattle, limited supplies of well-finished stock continue to put pressure on domestic meat buyers.

The pick of the highly muscled vealers sold to 522c/kg at Pakenham, with a small run of 43 steer calves averaging 475c/kg or $1755. The heifer portion averaged 448c/kg or $1592.

Feeder steer values remained firm at Wagga Wagga, the major indicator sale of a Monday for this class of stock.

The 467 yearling steers out of the yarding sold to feedlots, averaged 466c/kg on an average weight of 407kg, working out to $1784. The 246 yearling heifers sold to feedlots averaged 451c/kg or $1730 on a weight of 385kg.

Another trend in the past week was northern buyers, who have had more consistent rain, coming south for stores.

There were 606 young steers and heifers sold back to the paddock out of Wagga Wagga, with the steer portion costing 528c/kgand the heifers 469c/kg, the NLRS said.

Best domestic types gain up to $15

THE lamb market finally gave signs of shaking its autumn doldrums, with prices dearer at indicator sales this week.

Fewer numbers and more interest from both export and domestic buyers pushed a lot of lamb sales $5 to $10 dearer at auctions on Monday, with the best domestic types gaining up to $15 in places, the National Livestock Reporting Service said.

Bendigo reported a much stronger market for crossbred lambs compared to the last fortnight, the neatest ideal sized trade lambs in the 20-24kg carcass weight range bouncing back over 800c/kg carcass weight. Similar results were recorded at Corowa in southern NSW on the same day, with NLRS reporter Caroline Ronald calculating the better runs of trade lambs at 824c/kg. Further north at Dubbo, trade lambs were quoted as $5 dearer, tracking between 800c/kg to 825c/kg.

It comes as numbers declined at saleyards, with just 13,000 yarded at Bendigo this week and tighter supplies also evident in NSW.

Looking at the big picture, the national lamb slaughter has started to show a decline after some high kill levels were reported during March and April.

In dollar-a-head terms, the heaviest export lambs at Bendigo sold from $235 to a top of $278, for a ballpark costing of 765c/kg.

Sheep markets reported a general rise in prices this week thanks to fewer numbers and more demand from domestic and export buyers.

Pens of good heavy and medium trade lambs ranged from $190 to $220, with the NLRS estimating a mixed run at 830c/kg.

The pick of the nicely weighted domestic lambs were listed at up to 865c/kg.

Merino lambs are being sold in bigger volumes, drawn out by some good price results in the past fortnight.

Export weight Merino lambs in a big skin sold to $259 at Bendigo, with most of the better trade bodies from $180 to $220 depending on size and skin value.

On a positive note, buyers are reporting better skin returns, particularly for decent crossbred pelts, which have reportedly lifted to $7 for quality 2-inch skins. Merino skins measuring a good 2-inchs can command more than $20, depending on the size of the lamb.

However, while some strength is creeping back into the market, there is still not enough buyer demand to carry secondary and clean-up lots of lambs to a higher price territory.

This was evident at Deniliquin yesterday where a very plain yarding of lambs sold to mixed results.

The sheep market continues to perform strongly on limited supply, with good lines of Merino wethers quoted at between 650c/kg to 700c/kg at recent auctions.

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