THE supply of store and feeder cattle has had a significant rejig this year, as thousands of cattle left the production powerhouse of Northern New South Wales in the first quarter and headed across the country to greener pastures.

Saleyard throughput from Tamworth, Gunnedah, Inverell, Armidale, Scone and Dubbo went to a 20-year high in the first four months of the year and, at one point in April, Northern NSW was responsible for a 61pc of AuctionsPlus listings.

While many of those cattle were cows that went to processors, a significant portion of them were weaners that left the area and are still in the system. Last week’s episode of The Week in Beef looked into where those cattle are now and when they are likely to come back onto the market.

It seems they went just about anywhere except within 400km of the above six saleyards – with Western and Central Queensland enjoying a run of good seasons and beef producing areas of Southern NSW, Victoria and South Australia building back from drought last year.

A once in 20-year trade

One area that purchased a lot of cattle was the south-east corner of SA. Elders Lucindale agent Ronnie Dix said the sell-off presented a once in 20-year trade for producers in his area and in the Western Districts of Victoria.

Ronnie Dix. Photo: Paul Matthews

“The price of the cattle was extremely viable. Freight was criminal at the time, but we still made it work,” he said.

“Our stock numbers were down and banks are getting a bit tighter so trading is becoming quite appealing.”

With the extra freight bill, Mr Dix said a lot of his clients were targeting lighter crossbred steers and heifers – the key was getting more on the truck.

“When they started selling the cattle weighed around 240-300kg and then once we started getting into late March/April/early May, the weight really dropped off and we were back around 200-250kg,” he said.

“We saw a lot of black heifers, crossbred heifers and a few crossbred steers come this way, I doubt any of them will see a bull.”

Mr Dix said he was just starting to sell the first of they cattle they bought earlier this year. However, he said it was

“There were quite a lot of weaners that went through fat sales, that had a little bit more weight. Some of them have already gone, people are happy with $400 or $500 profit and they are moving them on,” he said.

“But I think it is going to be spread over at least five months. We will see others that will finish them and take them 450-500kg, whether that is a feeder or a fattener. Some of these cattle may even still be around in February/March depending on what our spring does and how kind the summer is.”

Some southern feedlot buyers who informed yesterday feeder cattle market report also said they were only just starting to buy cattle that went south for backgrounding, with the bulk of the feeders expected in September.

More bullocks coming out of the channel country this year

Bartlett & Co Livestock and Property principal Sam Bartlett.

Plenty of cattle are said to have gone onto paddocks from Broken Hill right up to Cameron’s Corner. Although several sources have told Beef Central that the area is holding more breeding herds on agistments, rather than weaners to trade.

The channel country is enjoying another run of bumper seasons and plenty of Angus cattle have gone onto paddocks for backgrounding programs.

Quilpie-based Bartlett & Co director Sam Bartlett said the rivers have been running late in the year and many paddocks are still hard to access. He said a lot of cattle that would have already gone to feedlots are likely to now come out as bullocks in September-November.

“There will be a run of cattle under them that should be around feeder weight at that time, I am just not sure whether they will sell them as feeders or take them through to bullocks for early next year,” Mr Bartlett said.

“I still think there will be a few feeders come out of the channels, but there is going to be a bigger turn off of bullocks than what we have seen in the past four or five years.”

Western Queensland also enjoying a rare trading opportunity

Producers in the Central West of Qld went south to buy lighter cattle for the second year in a row, with last year’s purchases from Southern NSW and Victoria now trickling onto the market as feeders.

One agent said the area is not typically used for trading and a lot more cattle could have gone into the area if the appetite was there to do it.

There has, however, been plenty of Angus cattle gone onto properties around Longreach, Barcaldine and Blackall.

Elders Longreach agent Tim Salter said a lot of purchases last year were taken through summer with a good early break in the season – with cattle that were well prepared doing well through the typically harsh summer conditions.

Mr Salter said a lot of producers will be facing a similar decision with cattle that were purchased out of Northern NSW earlier this year. He said he was expecting more to depart the area in October as a heavy backgrounder.

“We are just taking a few more steers that came here early June last, they will be around 440-450kg and they were 240kg when they arrived here,” he said.

“Might not sound like a massive weight gain in a lot of other areas of the countryside, but it is certainly very credible for up here over that 12-13 month window.

“Whether it be steers or heifers, both trades have turned around enormously well with the way the market has gone in the last six or eight months. Some of those guys now would openly say they should have bought double, because they have done so well out of them.”