Producers were met with a negative start to the week, which got tongues wagging about the future of cattle prices.
The only positive to be dragged out of Pakenham on Monday was a pen of quality bullocks making 284 cents per kilogram liveweight.
However, one only needs to turn to the Wagga Wagga market report to see some real pain.
Yarding a slightly smaller number (3640 head), demand was worse over all classes of cattle. All price indicators were down, some as much as 12-33c/kg.
Trying to justify this poor result, sees one looking at the yearling steer classes. Of the 1177 steers recorded in MLA’s market report, only 5 per cent were purchased by the trade.
Therefore, it was weaker feedlot and restocker competition that drove prices down. Poor meat exports, which were down 33pc last month, and very dry conditions in much of the potential purchasing area, were mostly to blame.
MLA’s Eastern Feeder Steer Report, released Monday, shows further declines in both domestic and export categories, that but two classes.
While it is very dry in the north, it is very wet in Victoria, especially some areas of Gippsland, where flood waters have been photographed everywhere. This is not a bad thing, but it has taken the shine of restocker competition.
Few vealers are coming forward, and prices barley reached over 330c/kg. The best competition was seen at Warragul last Wednesday, where isolated sales reached 365c/kg lwt.
Barnawartha, Tuesday, really closed up shop with a good quality, and larger offering, selling much cheaper. Vealers sold only to 300c, and yearling steers and heifers of better quality, were quoted as up to 40c/kg cheaper.
Steers made mostly from 246-272, and heifers 217-262c/kg lwt. Carcass weight prices were all well under 500c/kg with trade buyers very disinterested.
Having said this, Warragul cow market, Thursday, and Bairnsdale the same day, had poor competiiton, and corresponding poor prices.
The pick of the past seven days, for prime bullocks, was Leongatha, last Wednesday, which saw a top price of 294c/kg paid, and a reasonably good average was achieved.
Demand for cows has weakened across all markets. Prices were on average, 5-10c/kg lower.
Multiple numbers of dairy cows are coming on to the market, and these have suffered the most from processors.
A good look at the Warragul market report, shows a larger influx of lean dairy cows aided a drop of 29c/kg in the average over all cows, to 179.4c/kg lwt.
