Disruptions to the flow of cattle to saleyards due to public holidays and boggy roads across parts of NSW in the past fortnight have caused a slip in the overall sale trends for young cattle.
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The average price for yearling steers bought by restockers plunged about 45 cents a kilogram (week-on-week) on Monday in NSW to sit at 603c/kg.
The downward effect on feeder prices across the state was not as strong, but prices did still slip to 546c/kg.
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That's in contrast to the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator, which climbed another 23c/kg (carcase weight) on Tuesday to 1097.75c/kg.
This puts the EYCI higher than it was at the same time in the past two years.
Much of the lift in the EYCI has been driven by saleyard results at centres that have not been as severely affected by the rains and limited supplies, such as Roma in Queensland and Wagga Wagga in southern NSW.
The good supplies of cattle, in line with recent weeks, kept the buyers on the rail and bidding at dearer rates at Wagga Wagga last Thursday.
RH Blake and Company agent Mark Logan, Wagga, said the good supply of cattle at Wagga (about 2540 head) last week ensured buyers had plenty of stock to fill orders and trucks.
"Those saleyards with smaller yardings of 500-odd head in other parts of the state will have trouble attracting the buyers wanting to fill a truckload," he said.
"Here at Wagga, the competition is good and that's helping to keep the market strong."
Mr Logan said there had also been competition from Victoria. "Once Victoria dries out, we might see that southern influence start to wane, but right now it's Wagga where these buyers are getting their cattle," he said.
He said restocker and feedlot competition had been notably stronger last week, while the slaughter cattle were about 10c/kg to 20c/kg dearer. Medium weight feeder steers were keenly contested, averaging 557c/kg.
MCC Chudleigh Dobell agent Hugh Dobell, Forbes, said the supply of young cattle was limited and many people were looking to retain their stock to use on the good pastures following rain.
"Some of that country is not suitable for running sheep, so people are looking at utilising cattle to take advantage of the feed while it's available," he said.
He said the market was in recovery mode, having slipped away in July.
"Some restocker heifers are making more than the steers again," he said. "For the better lines of heifers, that people are looking to retain in the herd, they are making 640c/kg to 680c/kg."
Mr Dobell estimated the market was now back up around where it was before the mid-year fall and young cattle were making slightly better prices than at the same time last year.
