Inverell Prime Cattle Sale – Tuesday 21st January.
The threat of hot conditions lifted Inverell numbers to 3464 good quality cattle 1272 extra. A large increase in young cattle and cows.
Trends were generally cheaper for the young cattle the cows not as much.
Two new cow buyers operated with limited competition while other regular buyers attended and competed through the offering.
Weaner steers in low numbers sold 410c to 446c/kg.
Light background steers 300c to 402c/kg significantly cheaper.
Light feeders also cheaper 348c to 401c/kg.
Medium weight steers to feed sold to a negative correction 322c to 406c/kg and similar weight backgrounders slipping up to 40c/kg the correction coming from quality influence 338c to 401c/kg.
Heavy feeders gained 8c/kg 328c to 384c/kg.
Light background heifers slipped 25c/kg and corresponding weight feeders to feed lost 12c/kg to sell 314c to 344c/kg.
Medium weight feeders slightly cheaper selling to 344c/kg.
Grown heifers to process considerably cheaper 264c to 300c/kg.
Cows were cheaper with heavy drafts 250c to 317c/kg and lost up to 8c/kg.
Heavy bulls sold to 318c/kg.
Stephen Adams MLA
ROMA STORE SALE TUESDAY JANUARY 21
10938 HEAD SOLD YESTERDAY, SOURCED FROM ALL OVER QUEENSLAND. RESTOCKERS WERE VERY ACTIVE ON THE QUALITY LINES
YEARLING STEERS C2 SCORE
UNDER 200 KGS SOLD TO 536 TO AVERAGE 426
200 TO 280 KGS SOLD TO 532 TO AVERAGE 430 OR $1090
280 TO 330 KGS SOLD TO 500 TO AVERAGE 418
330 TO 400 KGS SOLD TO 456 TO AVERAGE 411
OVER 400 KGS SOLD TO 408 TO AVERAGE 376
YEARLING HEIFERS C2 SCORE
200 TO 280 KGS SOLD TO 382 TO AVERAGE 298
280 TO 330 KGS SOLD TO 376 TO AVERAGE 329
330 TO 400 KGS SOLD TO 378 TO AVERAGE 350
OVER 400 KGS SOLD TO 330 TO AVERAGE 317
COWS OVER 520 KGS
D3 COWS SOLD TO 278 TO AVERAGE 264
D4 COWS SOLD TO 312 TO AVERAGE 295 OR $1935
BULLS OVER 600 KGS SOLD TO 300 TO AVERAGE 278 OR $2857
THIS IS CHARLES WEYMAN JONES IN ROMA, REPORTING FOR RESONATE REGIONAL RADIO
Cattle Market’s strong start to 2025
The cattle market has opened 2025 with a bang but the big question now is will prices hold against the far heavier supply that looks guaranteed for the first half of the year.
There is no doubt the global beef demand dynamics will have a strong upward ‘pull effect’ on cattle prices in Australia but the restocker ‘push effect’ that is also needed to keep the market strong is very dependent on rainfall continuing to come through.
Southern weaner sales set a price foundation that was above expectations. All indicators have started the year above where they finished in 2024 and most have continued to rise.
At the same time, supply has ramped up.
Meat & Livestock Australia senior market information analyst Erin Lukey reported 87,782 head went through saleyards in the 3rd week in January, making it the largest weekly yarding since April 2024.
Sights back on a bounty with invasive pest numbers on the rise
Fresh debate surrounding feral pest management has led to calls for a bounty, after ideal conditions have led to increasingly high numbers of vertebrate pests across NSW.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party chairman Robert Borsak launched a campaign calling for a $2 million bounty program for feral pigs, foxes, cats and wild dogs in the next state budget.
“It provides clear data on the number of pests culled, their locations, and the associated costs,” he said.
Estimates provided by Mr Borsak detail that with a $10 bounty, up to 100,000 pests could be removed each year, following from the more than 1 million foxes killed across Victoria since bounties began, compared with 82,500 foxes killed and claimed for bounty in 2022.
Done and dusted: Headers put away after ‘best-ever’ receivals at silos
Harvest activity is mostly complete across NSW with a number of the state’s sites having record receivals.
GrainCorp’s head of national operations, Jason Shanley, said the year’s strength was indicated by several sites across the GrainCorp network recording their highest receivals in more than 10 years.
He said receival records fell at Talwood and Toobeah in Queensland, while Burren Junction, Garah, Caroona, Bellata and Quandialla in NSW have brimming bunkers.
Mr Shanley said ‘It has been a strong year of winter harvest receivals across our NSW network, with over 6.8 million tonnes received at our up-country sites and some late crops still trickling through the gates
“Several sites, including Burren Junction and Quandialla, recorded their best-ever season of receivals, while others, such as Garah, Caroona and Bellata, achieved their highest receivals in over a decade.
Fresh wave of foot and mouth disease in Indo sparks big vaccine release
A fresh wave of foot and mouth disease appears to have taken hold in Indonesia on the back of the lifting of livestock restriction movements.
International media has reported the Indonesian Government has allocated four million doses of vaccine to contain the outbreak.
Australian live export representatives said their information was the disease had gained a foothold in East Java since December.
Global media reports suggest almost 15,000 head have been infected in this outbreak.
Indonesia’s agriculture minister was quoted saying the increased cases were due to “unvaccinated livestock, high inter-regional livestock traffic and extreme weather changes that affected their immunity” and his government’s strategy was to vaccinate healthy animals to provide immunity.
Export lamb market keen to keep 2024 momentum if the season remains kind
The lamb market has come off the boil by about $9 a head, according to Andrew Jackson, livestock manager at Thomas Foods International New England,
However, he is confident that “as a buyer and livestock producer”, anybody who can get weight into their lambs can make good money.
Mr Jackson said the market had been subjected to a backlog in the system after the Christmas break.
He feels the general theme of lamb consumption worldwide is excellent, especially in America, which is our main market.
According to Meat and Livestock Australia data, Australian lamb exports rose to 359,299 tonnes (shipped weight) in 2024 – 10 per cent higher than the previous record set in 2023.
The United States was the largest market for lamb at 85,133t, followed by China at 53,478t and the United Arab Emirates at 27,268t, the MLA said.
