Meat & Livestock Australia’s National Livestock Reporting Service says a number of markets are now edging close to the 600c/kg cwt mark.

Wagga is currently the dearest market for cattle EYCI eligible cattle (explained at bottom of this article), averaging 588¢/kg cwt this week.

CTLX Carcoar was not far behind, with an average price of 583¢/kg cwt.

NVLX Barnawartha and Finley both closed this week on 576¢/kg cwt.

The greatest market mover so far in 2015 has been Forbes, with EYCI eligible cattle prices lifting 55% (or 207¢/kg cwt) since the 2015 selling year commenced.

Southern markets have generally performed very strongly this year, while Queensland markets – although still dearer than where they began at the start of the year – have lagged behind as a result of the continuing dry conditions.

Slower to move have been the Toowoomba sales, up by around 20% since January, and still not having broken through the 500c/kg cwt mark

Northern NSW’s Casino market has lifted 21% since the start of the year, now averaging 485¢/kg cwt

EYCI eligible cattle at Armidale have lifted 27%, albeit from an already high base, as it commenced the year as one of the strongest markets, but has since lost some of its momentum

In terms of buyer representation, feeders continue to dominate EYCI purchases, acquiring 43% of eligible cattle this week. Lot feeders have also continued to pay a 10¢/kg premium over processor and restocker buyers.

Vealer and yearling steers continue to sell 30¢ to 40¢ higher than their heifer counterparts, currently averaging 557¢/kg cwt, although this price differential may well close as soon as restocking purchases ramp up.

Source: MLA

* The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) is the general benchmark of Australian cattle prices. The indicator is a seven-day rolling average produced daily by MLA’s National Livestock Reporting Service (NLRS). The EYCI includes vealer and yearling heifers and steers, grade score C2 or C3, 200kg+ liveweight from saleyards in NSW, Queensland and Victoria. The results include cattle purchased for slaughter, restocking or lotfeeding and are expressed in cents per kilogram carcase (dressed) weight (c/kg cwt).