Market Report 6 August 2019

Cattle-

Yarding– 2273

Numbers declined slightly with quality and condition decreasing for the lighter drafts of younger cattle. There were, however, well-bred drafts of feeder cattle available, as well as good lines of heavy, well finished cows. All the regular buyers attended to a mixed market, with medium weight drafts of yearling steers showing dearer trends. Weaner steers saw cheaper trends of 6c/kg, with the heifer portion selling to restockers on a firm basis. Light steers sold to cheaper trends of 17c/kg. The medium weight drafts saw a dearer market, up to 15c, with the heavy portion to feed increasing 5c/kg. Yearling heifers to feed saw cheaper trends of 7c to 12c/kg. Limited numbers of heavy grown steers saw a rise of 14c/kg. The quality of the grown heifers eased, with drafts of C1 heifers to restockers selling to 151c/kg. D1 cows were back 7c, while medium weight D2 cows also sold to cheaper trends of up to 30c/kg. Heavy, well finished D4 cows saw a 10c/kg rise. Lack of live export competition in the bull market saw decreases of 30c/kg for that category.

Sheep-

Yarding– 3269                Lambs–  1699                              Sheep– 1570

Inverell numbers reduced by almost 1,000 head from the sale a fortnight ago. Lamb weights reduced significantly, particularly on the heavy lamb categories, seeing these drafts sell to cheaper trends throughout. Sheep values remained static, with some weight variations seeing dearer trends in the heavy crossbred grades. All the regular buyers attended, with good competition on restocker Merinos from the Central West of NSW. Light Dorper lambs saw small increases of $3/head. The light trade lamb weight reductions saw those categories ease by up to $30, with the heavy weight trade lambs selling to trends of $20/head cheaper. Heavy lambs saw price declines of $30, while extra heavy lambs topped at $230/head. Hoggets sold to $230/head. Medium weight ewes sold to firm trends, while extra weight in the crossbred ewes saw dearer trends of $12/head. Again, extra weight in the crossbred wethers saw significant improvements in those categories, with sales to $245/head. Restocker competition saw Merino wethers make to $141/head. Rams sold to $150/head.