FEEDER cattle prices across the north have surged in the past week as widespread rain and supply disruptions send buyers to the saleyards – with some Hereford steers this morning going above 590c/kg and Angus cattle heading from south to north.

One agent said prices for flatback feeder steers in northern feedlots are “anyone’s guess” at the moment – the main part they all know is that market is rising on recent weeks.

Northern feedlot buyers who spoke to Beef Central this morning said they were reluctant to put out grids or change last week’s grids for paddock purchases until they see what the market does early this week, especially with a lot of cattle still unable to reach yards. That is expected to push buyers into saleyards to fill contracts.

While paddock quotes have been hard to find, buyers told Beef Central that 400kg+ flatback feeder steers going to Darling Downs feedlots at this stage are worth 520-550c/kg.

Beef Central has heard to the 100-day grainfed forward contract has gone up to 900c/kg carcase weight for February delivery, which is an increase on December and January.

Angus prices in the north are about 30c dearer than the south, with northern feedlots paying 560-580c/kg and southern feedlots paying 540-560c/kg for an Angus feeder steer. Southern crossbred prices are hovering around 520c/kg.

All of the northern prices are up 10-20c this week, buy they are also expected to change by the end of the week.

Early sales reflect temporary drop in supply

Some of the bigger feedlots say they went long on cattle supply before the rain, however, there are plenty of cattle that are already booked that still have to get out.

Early sales this week have reflected an increased demand for bigger runs of feeder steers that are immediately available. One Tamworth agent told Beef Central that saleyard prices are clearly dearer than paddock prices and that there was barely any spread between crossbred and Angus cattle.

He referred to a run of Hereford feeder steers, sold by Davidson Cameron & Co, which were all sold for more than 590c/kg – with three feedlot buyers competing. He said a pen of heavy 460kg steers sold for 592c/kg and some lighter 445kg steers sold for 595c/kg – with multiple pens in between.

The same agent said Angus feeder steers were hovering around the 600c/kg mark.

According to the National Livestock Reporting Service website, the Tamworth sale offered 190 heavy 400kg+ feeders, which averaged 587c/kg.

The saleyard-based feeder steer indicator has gone up another 7c today to 535c/kg, with the Tamworth sale contributing the highest average price to the indicator.

Cattle coming forward in the south

The NLRS Wagga sale report is reflecting what buyers were saying about southern supply, with plenty of cattle coming forward and some feedlots booked out until the end of November.

Heavy feeder steers increased 7-8c/kg, with a bit over 700 head on offer. Reporter Leann Dax said while strong support from feedlots for backgrounding cattle over Christmas, there as many feedlot orders as previous weeks.

Beef Central was told this morning that some Queensland yards are pulling Angus feeder steers out of the south to go onto the Darling Downs.

What is the impact of the rain?

The widespread of the rain is expected to provide disruptions to supply for at least this start of this week, with the Warrego, Maranoa, Condamine and Barcoo Rivers all getting a run.

At the time of this report, the New England Highway was cut between Toowoomba and Warwick.

One buyer told Beef Central that he was expecting the biggest disruptions to feeder cattle supply to happen in the next week or two.

“The fact that the rain has been so widespread will only heighten the impact – it had been more patchy or localised, the feeder supply outlook would not be as bad,” he said.

There is still rain forecast in Queensland and the Northern Territory this week, but it is not expected to be as widespread as last week.