Cattle demand resilient

A WEEK of warmer weather, which has been welcome on the back of new season’s lambs and all cattle categories as it has been a pretty cold and windy first part of the spring here in Tasmania.

I am hearing there has been some good silage crops cut over the past fortnight, particularly around the Devonport area, and no doubt that will continue going further west (or Northwest) as that country starts to dry out.

The opposite is the Midlands and southern regions where the hills are already starting to go off as we head towards summer.

Interstate, there have been some good rains in Queensland’s south-east which has meant fewer cattle through the yards and direct to the works. 

Overall on Australia’s east coast cattle slaughter numbers are running higher than last year, up 14 per cent.

Last week saw 145,327 cattle processed, which was the largest kill week since January 2020 and more in line with the 2019 weekly averages. 

Here in Tasmania things have been pretty stable with cattle kill numbers ranging from 4400 to 4800 per week. 

Last week we saw 4621 head processed and they are mainly all local cattle as both major exporters aren’t bringing any in from interstate at the moment. 

Interesting to note that Victorian store cattle sales have held up remarkably well given their pretty average season. 

The very best steers with weight are topping around 400c/kg live while averages are sitting more in the 350c/kg range but lighter steers very quickly back to 330c/kg. 

Feedlots dominate the market for cattle weighing over 400kg while buyers from interstate are still prominent with cattle heading up into NSW. 

While on the Victorian cattle job, it was sad to hear of the passing of Colin Mckenna (after a short illness) who started Midfield Meats at Warrnambool, one of the big export works in Victoria. 

I have been lucky enough to meet him a couple of times and he will be sorely missed.

Prime and export cattle prices have been basically moving sideways for the past month with a little bit of up and down week by week.

In bigger Victorian and NSW saleyards most trade cattle are making 320c/kg to 350c/kg with an odd vealer sale higher and secondary types lower. 

Most grown steers and bullocks are making 330c/kg to 350c/kg while the export heavy cows are making just under 300c/kg. 

As is always the case, the state of the season in the big producing areas will dictate how the supply goes over the next three months and will also determine where our prices head here in Tassie.