MUTTON, lamb and goat offal exports collectively for the month eased 15 per cent year-on-year to 2634t (shipped weight) and were 6pc lower than 2015 for the year-to-September period – also following a net reduction in slaughter numbers according to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA).
MLA reported last week the year-to-September mutton, lamb and goat offal shipments to Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia remained steady year-on-year with 6836t and 6274t exported, respectively.
During the same period Papua New Guinea eased 6pc (totalling 1558t) and UAE totalled 1100t, up 7pc compared to the same period in 2015.
MLA forecast production to remain tight for cattle, sheep and goats for the remainder of the year – further impacting offal volumes available for export.
Hunter females up for grabs
BOWE and Lidbury agent Rodney McDonald, Maitland, said restockers looking for quality cows and heifers have the opportunity to pick up some lovely Hereford females on Saturday at the annual Hunter Valley Hereford Association female sale at Maitland saleyards.
The sale starts at 10am and will be followed by the Maitland Spring Female Sale.
Mr McDonald said this sale will also include some lovely runs of cows being predominantly Angus and Angus-cross cattle.
Cattle supply slip in saleyards
THE yardings of cattle at National Livestock Reporting Service (NLRS) reported saleyards seems to be on the decline early this week.
On Monday at Tamworth saleyards the number of cattle offered slipped by 55 per cent (when compared to the week before), to 996 head.
Consignments at Wagga declined 14pc this week, to 3800 head. At Toowoomba cattle numbers declined 10pc to 737 head. NLRS said despite the small drop in supply and fair representation of buyers, prices trended cheaper across most classes, with young cattle dominating the yarding.
The slip in supply was also followed by a slip in prices with trade steers about 6c/kg cheaper at 351c/kg.
Cattle rates cheaper
YOUNG cattle prices slipped about 20 cents a kilogram (carcase weight) in the past week, even thought supply has generally been back on past weeks.
On Monday night the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator was on 675c/kg.
This was also nearly 40c/kg cheaper than at the same time last month.
All sales on Monday averaged lower than the EYCI.
Lamb price recovery
INDICATOR prices for trade lambs have recovered some of the losses of a fortnight ago to settle on 561 cents a kilogram (carcase weight) early this week.
While this was still almost 60c/kg cheaper than a month ago, the current average prices are about 45c/kg dearer than this time last year.
More new season shorn lambs have also hit the market this week.
