Banking on spring rain to keep cattle prices firm

Reduced sized yardings, particularly in the south of the state, point to the results of a sell-off during autumn and early winter, although some agents speculate producers may be holding onto their cattle, if they can, in anticipation of a good spring.

Either way, Tegan Morris, Delta Agribusiness, Yass, said buyers at the store cattle sale at Yass last week were still presented with a good offering of quality stock.

"There are not a lot of store cattle coming into the yards," Ms Morris said.

"With spring just around the corner and with a bit of sunshine, I think we will see more coming into the market and with a bit more weight.

"Those producers with feed and who are optimistic about the season have been keeping their cattle."

Ms Morris said there had been excellent autumn calving rates in the south and anticipated solid numbers for weaner sales next year.

"At the moment, with limited numbers, buyers are taking better quality cattle than quantity," she said.

Greg Anderson, MM and JJ Anderson, Crookwell, said the outlook for the store cattle market was "weather dependent".

"If we get a spring, the market may get a touch better," Mr Anderson said.

"But all of this talk about El Nino is giving a lot of producers the jitters. And a few have already unloaded some of their cattle."

He didn't expect supply to lift until the autumn calf drop hit the market.

"That will also depend on getting the stock through this coming spring and into summer," Mr Anderson said.

"We have had some very big frosts which have knocked pasture growth and that is having a big impact on restricting buying interest.

"There is not a lot of confidence out there at the moment."

After reflecting a positive trend last week, the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) gave back much of those gains early this week to sit on about 560 cents a kilogram (carcase weight).

Feedlots remain the dominant buyers of cattle, contributing to the EYCI at similar rates to last week, but it's the restocker portion of the calculation that appears to be dragging the price down.

Meat and Livestock Australia figures indicate the restocker cattle in the EYCI were about 14c/kg cheaper than last week.

There's also a gap of about 46c/kg between the average price of feeder and restocker cattle in the EYCI calculation.

Meanwhile, slaughter numbers have picked up in recent weeks.

National female slaughter reached 48.5pc last week, with MLA reporting some states such as NSW and Victoria recording very high female percentages.