THE young cattle market has continued to zoom higher with the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator now more than 25 cents a kilogram (carcase weight) higher than it was a week ago.
On Tuesday evening the EYCI had climbed to 537.5c/kg.
In NSW much of this was driven by the yearling steer and heifer market as the supply of vealers has slowed.
Yearling steers contributed by far the most to the EYCI calculation early in the week and prices for this category bounced about 30c/kg, when compared to the same time last week.
Overall, prime young cattle prices were as much as 30c/kg dearer at Forbes; 47c/kg more at Carcoar; 36c/kg higher at Wagga Wagga; up 64c/kg at Inverell and 44c/kg at Tamworth.
It’s clear buyers looking to pick up slaughter ready cattle at prices similar to last week were quickly readjusting there budgets right across the state.
I’m tipping there’s more room for the EYCI to climb higher, as many centres so far this week have recorded average prices well above where the EYCI is currently sitting.
Agency update and awards
I WAS lucky enough to attend the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association annual general meeting and dinner in Sydney last Friday.
Discussions during the seminar sessions were varied and covered everything from live exports, bull buying section tools, animal welfare and transport chain of responsibility, to auctioneers schools and social media.
There will more on some of those discussions in next week’s paper as part of the ALPA feature report.
A highlight of the dinner was Jake Kennedy from Elders Clermont, Queensland, being awarded the ALPA Fairfax Media Agency Award for excellence in innovative marketing. While Jake was representing Qld in the competition, I think NSW can also claim some of the win as he was educated and grew up in Orange!
Congratulations also to NSW finalist Lyndsey Douglas who works for Ray White Rural and Livestock. The judges said Lyndsey certainly made a strong impression during her interview.
For any agents with less than 10 year agency experience, this competition is certainly worth a go next year.
The prize includes a fully paid trip to the Calgary Stampede compliments of Quadrant Ag Tours. And you don’t need to be a stock agent to enter – the award also includes those working in property, wool, merchandise, agronomy and insurance.
