SWAN Hill Livestock Exchange rallied to end its 2023 selling season on a high, with cattle prices defying the slump of the previous six months.
On the back of good local rains – in parallel with strong falls across the drier areas of Queensland and NSW – the market has taken a positive kick heading into the traditional weaner cattle sales.
Elders Swan Hill livestock specialist Matt Rowlands described the final sale as “having a remarkably strong finish”.
Mr Rowlands said that in the past two to three weeks there had been good gains in cattle, in what he saw as “a very positive sign for the industry”.
He said the past four to six months of prices had been low but the promise of more feed to get through the summer had stemmed the bleeding of numbers out of the north, which had been clogging processors for some time.
“You can understand producers up there being a bit gun-shy as they have endured some pretty tough conditions in the past four or five years, so at the first sight of dry their feed concerns take precedence,” Mr Rowlands said.
“That flow of cattle into the processing chain has compounded the downward pressure on prices across the market, but our final sale showed things here are on the mend.
“In the heavier cattle, from 480kg-plus through to finished bullocks at 650kg-plus, prices were going very well and were upwards of $2 a kilogram, which has been very hard to find lately.
“While we only had a small yarding, prices went up across all categories – we even saw feeder cattle and steers heading back to paddocks at $2.50kg and better, and we haven’t seen that for a while.
“Cattle around the 300kg range were doing $3/kg, which is a great result.”
Swan Hill’s sale high was for trade steers in the 351kg to 500kg range, with JA & DR Brawn, from Pental Island, averaging 300.6c/kg, ahead of MR & R Vallance, Nullawil, at 273.6c/kg.
The next Swan Hill sales for sheep and cattle will be held in February.
Check www.swanhill.vic.gov.au/business/livestock/ in the new year for the updated selling roster.
