Livestock agents find it hard to fill store pens at several yards

Monthly store sales at Kyneton and Colac have been cancelled, with numbers at larger centres also dropping away.

Agents reported wet conditions had hampered getting cattle out to the markets, particularly at Yea and Kyneton.

But they said the slump was likely to only be temporary, with numbers expected to climb again once spring arrived.

Episode 3 market analyst Matt Dalgleish said while yardings usually dwindled during winter, higher turnoff earlier this was now having an impact on store markets.

"We hadn't been seeing that, up until now," he said.

"Even a month ago, there were some pretty dire looking forecasts for weather and I think a lot of producers were starting to prepare for dry conditions to come.

"With the prices being softer, through winter, it was one of those things where people were becoming quite concerned."

General confidence in the market was waning, due to more "broader price action."

Mr Dalgleish said aggressive restocker competition also seemed to have gone from the market.

"There is not that incentive to chase animals - in previous years, there was a lot of confidence around the fact we weren't going to have a dry period coming up," he said.

"There was plenty of feed and there would have been good demand for store animals, because of all that feed."

A Kyneton, Elders livestock agent Dean Coxon said a large part of the reason for cancelling last week's store sale was wet weather.

"A lot of cattle have been sold and prices are well down, so people aren't rushing out to sell," Mr Coxon said.

"As big a reason for our sale as anything is just how wet it is and being unable to transport cattle."

He said many farmers had bought in supplementary feed to get their stock through until spring.

"If we get some grass in October and November, I am sure the cattle market will kick a little bit, but if it's a tight spring and cuts out, these prices are probably where it's going to be," he said.

"There is plenty of cattle around in our area, there is no shortage of numbers."

At Colac, Nutrien's Phil Douglas said the Colac Stock Agents Association had made the decision to cancel Friday's sale, due to very low numbers.

Buyers would not travel for small yardings - "you don't want to take the risk that they won't turn up," he said.

"No-one wants to cancel a sale, but going ahead certainly wasn't in the best interests of the vendor if we are not totally confident of buying support," he said.

"The cattle are certainly there and we don't get going until October then over November.

"Hopefully we are hitting a rising market, and we can sell them later."

He said no-one really knew what the weather would do, in the coming months.

"If nothing else, we are hoping we've done the right thing by hanging on a bit longer and hopefully take advantage of the spring flush," he said.

Mr Douglas said he was at the recent Ballarat sale where there was a glimmer of hope.

"There seemed to be a bit more urgency in bidding and a bit more aggressiveness by the buyers, so we hope that will keep going," he said.

"I know Mortlake was the same the day before.

"There is always someone looking for something."

Mr Douglas said sales had been cancelled before, but it was rare.

"When there is grass, no-one wants to see it waving in the wind - we have to buy," he said.

Mortlake Stock Agents Association president Jack Hickey, JM Ellis Livestock, said numbers were smaller at the first sale of the month as cows and calves, joined females and dairy-cross cattle made up most of the yarding.

"We have kept that sale going, so that's why that first sale of the month is going to be a little bit lighter, for numbers," Mr Hickey said.

"Down here, we are just getting over the hump and there is feed on the horizon, so I don't think people are too desperate to sell just yet."

It had rained steadily for some weeks, with some properties receiving more than 200 millimetres of rain, since June.

"I think, for our main sale, we might have 2500-3000 head, but who is to know - it's up in the air at the moment."

At Yea, where agents can yard up to 2000 head, between 500-600 head of cattle had been booked in, by mid-week.

Nutrien livestock agent Tyson Bush said the flat country around the town was still very wet, while the higher land was starting to dry out "pretty quickly.

"It's a seasonal thing, it's a price-driven thing and people have already got out of store cattle," he said.

"The last couple of markets we have had a few more numbers than we thought, so producers may have sold already.

"You can only sell them once."

The continued wet conditions had also meant it had been hard for some producers to get trucks in and off properties, he said.