WHOEVER knew not working full time could make someone so busy. Anyone with a daughter getting married soon will understand.

The triangle from Hawer in the Flinders Ranges to Warrnambool to Wagga is potentially the best widespread season I have seen. Stock feed has bulk and it was rare to see a bad crop in the entire drive. Canola seems to be the biggest planting and if the early prices are locked away may pay handsomely. Some of the faba bean crops look like small pine tree plantations. Great opportunity with the beans to fatten lambs or sell the option to someone.

Chris Howie

Cattle

Called into Mortlake for the Young Auctioneer competition and watched the fat sale 2 weeks ago. Fat stock in good order was in high demand with best cows at $4.35, best heavy Frisian cows at $3.98 and clean bulls in the high $4 range. Barnawartha the following day saw cows to $4.38, however the southern centres are still the kings on bull pricing.

For those with EU accreditation the current orders have been well and truly rewarding both store and finished cattle. As we know the EU orders can ebb and flow but this is the same with all specialist markets. The beauty of the EU job is no one cares about the colour of the coat as long as they hit their fat cover and dentition specs. Very worth looking at implementing within your operation.

Northern export. I noticed the live export market out of the north has rallied. With prices touching the low $4 the potential to push higher for any period is starting to meet some serious buyer resistance. With orders in play to meet next years Lebaran dates at the end of Ramadan the balancing act is supply and available ships. Most exporters have their shipping charters covered but the availability of “spot charters” is tight which restricts the impact of an unscheduled ship dropping into the market.

The Bi annual BeefEx run by the Australian Lot Feeders Association is on this week. Even if you are not attending, follow the event on socials and via Beef Central, as the content will be very worthwhile if you are a cattle breeder.

With expected grain harvest in the south being a bumper and forecasts showing cattle on feed moving towards 2 million over the next 5 years the outlook is very positive. Ration cost can be the difference between margin and loss in this industry. Hay values have also plummeted in the south, with a huge hay season now in full swing. The science behind getting cattle to convert efficiently is now measurable at a carcase level with systems like MLA My feedback, Black Box and others.

The benefit of the feedlot industry for all of us is it rewards both ways – continuity of product and supply to the processor and supply chain orders from weaners onwards for the producer. Understanding livestock performance is now essential at all levels not just a quirky innovation. Genetic and paddock/feedlot performance will be held to account more and more in the coming years.

Sheep and Lamb

Stopped to look at the Wagga sale. New seasons suckers topped at $398 whilst I was there. Seems liked that bit of extra work to chip off the lead has been paying great dividends for a lamb that might be 4 – 5 months old. Nothing new of course but the store 2^nd cross suckers were consistent at $220+ and good trade to light export suckers $225 – $330 Speaking to Tim Drum from RLA, Wagga, he said the mothers of those lambs averaged $350 in the same sale.

As reported across rural press and radio on the same day we saw 198 1^st cross ewes May / June 25 drop from the Golder Family sold at West Wyalong make $620. The kicker is the entire consignment of 600 ewes averaged $607. Before we all say that’s ridiculous let’s do the sums. If a buyer is paying that much I expect the operation knows what they are doing. Conservatively use 1.3 lambs x $300 = $390 + the CFA ewe at $250 = $640. That make the purchase price work – however if you are going to fully restock a property those numbers are fraught with danger.

Hay annual sheep sale. What a great day for the Merino sheep industry.  Spoke to Ron Rutledge, Nutrien Livestock Southern Zone who attended the Hay sale. Just under 20,000 ewes were yarded compared to 33,000 last year and the entire yarding averaging $376. Lead drafts topped at $515 with the majority of better ewes solidly in the $300 to $400 range.  Ron said the buyers were very reluctant to bid early on each lot however the requirement to buy replacements saw hands raised. Only 3 lots went outside of the Riverina with many buyers substituting merinos for their normal 1^st cross ewe purchases in expectation of elevated prices. Ron also raised that many breeders are also keeping their young cull ewes on the back of the feed season.

Grass Seed is here this week – Potential grass seed in lambs is again the discussion.

Barley and spear grass added to corkscrew are all in abundance and we are only days from seed set. Tim Francis, H Francis and Co, Wagga raised that even though we continue to lift awareness of the discounts many producers get caught out. Often not in the paddock but in the lane way or the sheep yards them selves when brought in for drafting. Late call – Andrew Hosken did a run from Tamworth to Booligal and across. He mentioned it is the worst seed season he has seen since the 80’s. The last 3 days have seen the northern NSW and the marginal SA country hay off very quickly.

For the processors who align to the US and other export markets seed is an issue that cannot be ignored. Under the import protocols of the USDA seed is treated as faecal matter with a zero tolerance. Penalties on seed are not about making more money but trying to stop consignments with seed arriving in the first place.

Lamb feedlot representation

After speaking about BeefEx it must be time for the lamb feed lotting industry to elevate in a more formal manner. Various processors are getting to the final stages of hook tracking, IMF is coming as a marketing opportunity to create a premium eating MSA graded product and genetics are aligning to what the consumer wants.

If we look at wine and Wagyu they are products that reflected what the consumer is prepared to pay. In a Melbourne restaurant recently I saw one of my favourites from the Barossa, a Kalleske Moppa, cellar door is $30. At over $100 I decided to drink it when I got home and stuck to beer. My point is lamb and sheep meat is heading towards a defining moment as we create premium product and the ability to trace all the way back to genetics.

The faster the lamb feedlot industry has serious representation like ALFA the better the industry will be is my view.

Stock water – When times are good and water is plentiful it is the time to plan for the next drought. Renovate your water systems, run some new pipe, tanks on a dam with a trough, make or clean contour banks, anything is better than doing nothing. In the last 2 droughts the most evident issue has been the lack of water brings a must sell moment. For many years the large pastoral leases have seen the benefits of taking water to the stock and utilising all of the feed. With solar pumps, wifi and remote water systems the cost saved on checking waters should be reinvested on an annual basis. Whether it be sheep or cattle, the less they walk for water the more time they spend grazing.

Store livestock – the feed available and the lower numbers have seen store stock holding value. Before the last rain in the South we saw a bit of a dip but this quickly rallied and added more to an already strong price range. The same has happened in the North with store cattle. I am not privy to what contracts are in place or how long some stock will be held but current store prices seem to be squeezing potential margins if the stock don’t hit the top slot of a kill or feedlot order.

Wild dogs – after writing about this problem I have had a number of chats about the damage being inflicted. Every state is now being impacted especially in the sheep areas yet we seem to have elevated the wild dog to some form of celebrity status in the city. In every state (don’t know about Tassie) this problem is getting out of control not to mention the spread of wild pigs which are now being spotted in the Flinders Rangers where they have never been.  Imagine if main stream media showed the footage of sheep after dogs have been on the hunt or wild pigs grabbing lambs at a dam.

When I read the piece on the NSW parliamentary enquiry into dingo and wild dogs in National parks I thought it was a Two Ronnie’s skit. Chaired by an Animal Justice Party MP it has been determined that more science is needed to understand how controlling dogs impacts behaviour. Oh my god – all of these studies have been done over and over with the same outcome – whether in pack families or alone, dogs still kill live stock.

Vale – Gavin O’Sullivan. Not many who drive in Australia have not crossed paths with an O’Sullivans Transport semi. The respect show to Gavin O’Sullivan Friday week ago was quite humbling. Without doing an accurate count I estimate nearly 3000 attended the service at Elmore. All parts of the livestock industry were represented with distance not being an obstacle to attend. RIP Gavin.

Beef Central profiled O’Sullivan Livestock Transport in this earlier Top 25 Livestock Transporters feature. 

Opportunities

• Don’t fill your lambs up with seed – simples
• Take a breath and let the store job settle a bit.
• Merinos with a start in the skin – great opportunity
• Shear seep before sale – 6 weeks before if possible.
• Cows and calves to split.
• Improve your water systems – thank me next drought.
• Market your sale stock well – they are worth plenty.

Chris Howie is a regular Beef Central and Sheep Central livestock markets columnist.