Store sales swell in numbers as prime cattle fall away

According to industry, huge demand from various feedlots has caused better prices and been a major driver for producers to sell at store markets, rather than prime markets.

With year-to-date prime cattle sale figures sitting at a 22 per cent decline in throughput, store markets are packed.

In late April, Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange's store market yarding tripled, but has since steadied out in recent weeks, while Mount Gambier's cattle market has remained strong since the outset of the year.

Millicent producer Leigh Kent backgrounds a fair few cattle and in the past 12 months, increased the volume he put through the store market.

Mr Kent sells fortnightly and said a lot of producers were aiming cattle at the store market to gain solid returns and avoid penalties for heavier cattle.

"I am getting about $200-$300 more at the store market," he said.

"The incentive to grow out cattle has gone - you take a hit for it at the other end."

Mr Kent said in the past five months, the demand for store cattle from feedlot buyers had catapulted.

"I sold cattle that averaged $2900 at the store market because feedlotters do not want cattle to be heavier than 500 kilograms," he said.

Coupled with the cost of feed and penalties at the other end, Mr Kent believed producers had opted out of the prime market.

"I think cuts of meat from a heavier animal are not as desirable," he said.

"I will get to the stage when I will not sell heavy cattle to avoid penalties."

A Meat & Livestock Australia 2022 national projections report identified that it was indeed a softer start to the prime cattle selling season and although numbers rebounded strongly across most states in the first week of the year, it was about 945 head below the 2021 average weekly yardings.

Looking across the past five years, SA saleyards are yet to align with 2016-17 prime sale volumes that reached 261,476 head.

Consecutive years of significantly reduced numbers followed until 2019-20 when it regained traction to 255,763 head.

Current figures for SA's year-to-date prime sales are 27,183 head, while the state's major selling centres yarded up to 3000 more store cattle in January, when compared to last year at the same time.

There has been a 5.6pc fall in prime cattle offerings at Naracoorte in the past two years, with Mount Gambier recording a 9pc drop and Dublin market having a significant 30pc reduction in volume.

But a whopping 81,315 head of cattle have been sold through Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange this financial year, higher than the 79,000 head five-year average.

Saleyard manager Bec Barry said extremely strong weaner and female sales in December and January, offered 34,000 head.

"Strong prices, combined with strong demand from northern buyers meant that producers who may usually hang onto younger stock could capitalise on the market and sell lighter stock for the same price they would typically receive for heavier animals," she said.

"We had a strong weaner sale at the beginning of the year, where 6000 steers and 3327 heifers were sold, with 73pc travelling to northern Vic, NSW and Qld."

According to Mount Gambier saleyard spokesperson Andrew Whan, solid rainfall in the northern parts of the country meant there had been a strong trend of producers changing to the store market.

"There has been a huge demand coming from big feedlots since the rain and store numbers have increased dramatically," he said.

"Desirable breeds are being yarded in the store market instead.

"It is definitely a trend in southern states, but there is also a definite lack of numbers in the system too."

With massive numbers of cattle heading north, Mr Whan said it was unlikely the southern selling system would see those cattle again.

"Upwards of 85pc of cattle sold in December and January were sold to the north - those cattle will not come back into southern selling centres," he said.

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