No price spike for heifers, cows

Demand for potential breeding females was subdued at major sales recently, despite welcome summer rain.

A decade-high cattle herd is being blamed for a lack of price spike for cows and heifers at annual breeder sales.

Mortlake and Wodonga each held female sales last week offering the chance for restockers to top up on numbers.

And despite the rain, bidding for cows and calves and joined females was spasmodic with feature lines and the best Angus gaining the top bids.

StoneX Australian livestock and commodities manager Ripley Atkinson said it was important to look at the bigger picture, with the number of breeding females the highest in a decade.

“The need or necessity to buy heifers isn’t there because producers have them on farm,” Mr Atkinson said.

“Looking at the historical sale results particularly 2021 to 2023, the spread between heifers and steers was tighter, and that’s when demand for well-bred heifers was intense because producers wanted them for the rebuild.

“As the cattle cycle matures, the demand for those heifers has lessened meaning prices are softer.”

Mr Atkinson said he was unconvinced there had been a significant liquidation of the cattle herd despite the female slaughter rate sitting above the long-term average for at least six months last year.

“Given that the number of breeding females is the highest in a decade and that will continue as those heifers born in 2022 are joined, this will sustain the higher supply of cattle into 2025,” Mr Atkinson said.

“If rain continues as forecast for 2024, the herd will continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate than the 2021-23 period.”

And most of that growth will happen further north, with rebuilding across northern NSW and southern Queensland expected if the season goes with those areas, Mr Atkinson said.

“The necessity to buy heifers to grow out and join isn’t there because producers have very solid numbers of females on farm with a relatively young average age of the breeding herd,” he said.