SALEYARD prices have hit their highest point this year a strong market withstands a big flush of cattle coming forward.

The benchmark Eastern Young Cattle Indicator broke through 900c/kg carcase weight earlier this week, peaking at 909c and opening today at 907c/kg. The EYCI has risen 82c in the past month and by 280c since this time last year.

With the market rising some big numbers have been coming forward to saleyards this week, with the Dubbo sale yesterday breaking a record at 10,000 head. Dalby also had a big yarding at 7000 head and Wagga at 5000 head.

Strong demand for light backgrounder-type cattle appears to be underpinning the market. According to the Dubbo saleyard report, the average price for restocker steers (330-400kg) jumped by 33c, with 105 head averaging 534c.

Dalby saw a similar trend, with a sample of 777 restocker steers (280-330kg), which averaged 544c – with an increase of 39c.

According to a weekly market update from Ripley Atkinson from StoneX, some parts of New South Wales are drying – which has pushed producers to sell into a strong market.

He said there was strong demand from parts of Qld. “Qld restockers continue to rise rapidly, some paddock deals now well over $6/kg for backgrounder cattle – when looking at the deep zone soil moisture (>1m), the underlying moisture is there, the producer just needs the rain to connect the dots, that’s playing out in this bullish sentiment for light cattle.”

Victorian restockers have also been competitive in the market in recent weeks, competing hard with feedlots for medium weight cattle.

While it has been patchy, rain has fallen over large parts of Qld in recent weeks, with parts of Western NSW largely missing out.

Some rain is on the forecast for NSW next week, however, it looks reasonably coastal.