Australia: Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

Yardings Cattle yardings have started to pick up at key saleyards. Dalby had an increase of 604 head this week after drier conditions in the area and Roma had an increase of 3,376 head. Good quality stock was available at the saleyards with buyers continuing to be picky and paying premiums for better finished offerings. National cattle yardings improved by 7,351 head, especially in Queensland and NSW. Throughput in the feeder steer indicator improved by 36% week-on-week. This has placed pricing pressures on the indicator which reached 384.83¢/kg live weight (lwt). The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) softened 6¢ week-on-week, with an increase of 5,000 head in throughput. Roma took out the top spot for contributing to the EYCI, overtaking Dalby. Roma also had the second highest prices at 798.68¢/kg carcase weight (cwt) with Casino taking the top price of 832.91¢/kg lwt. The young cattle offering at Casino was larger and of better quality which helped to lift prices and buyers ...