Mutton

Despite uncertainty in Australia’s largest mutton export market – China – the impact of dwindling supply, accelerated by the recent rain event, has propelled mutton prices to record levels.

Mutton prices typically peak at the beginning of winter before entering a period of decline in late July, albeit the indicator is often influenced by intermittent rainfall in any given year. Therefore, the recent price increase is perhaps unsurprising. However, the rise comes on the back of already elevated mutton prices, with the indicator on Tuesday 18 February reported at 672¢/kg carcase weight (cwt), a remarkable 255¢ above year-ago levels. The strength of the current market will provide some comfort to producers who opted to retain breeding ewes and supplementary feed in the past year.

It has been a devastating start to 2020 for many red meat and livestock producers.

We have witnessed catastrophic bushfires roar through millions of hectares of rural and regional Australia, much of it farm land. The number of people and animals affected, plus the amount of infrastructure and vegetation destroyed is unprecedented.

The thoughts of everyone at MLA - some of who have been directly impacted - are with those who have lost loved ones, property, land and livestock.  

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The results are in from MLA’s annual saleyard survey, which identifies total number of cattle and sheep consigned to Australia’s saleyards over the course of a financial year.

View the full cattle saleyard survey report.

New South Wales

Young cattle prices in WA continue to trend above their eastern counterparts, with the west trading at an average premium of 41¢/kg cwt since the start of 2019.  For the week ending 21 November, the Western Young Cattle Indicator (WYCI) averaged 551c/kg, 7% above the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) which was trading at 512.75c/kg.

With no reprieve from dry conditions, restocker confidence in the east remains subdued despite cattle being pulled forward in strong numbers across NSW and Queensland. A failed autumn unsurprisingly maintained elevated yardings over winter for northern centres however high throughput of young cattle has continued into spring, maintaining downwards pressure on the EYCI. Feeder buyers, and more recently processors, have provided some support for store cattle prices, with processors purchasing younger cattle due to strong export returns.

While the EYCI lifted above 500¢/kg in October, following a brief dip in September, the WYCI has been consistently strong, remaining above 500¢/kg since May. For the week ending 21 November, cattle moving through the saleyards in the west surged to near peak levels as the rise in WYCI attracted bigger yardings. While the west has also experienced below average rainfall across 2019, a slightly better autumn rainfall and some restocker activity provided support to the market.

Australia’s red meat industry is operating in an increasingly challenging global environment, not only experiencing tough seasonal conditions in many regions, but also facing significant attention around the sustainability of the red meat and livestock sectors and the place of red meat in a healthy diet.

More than ever before, consumers – particularly in developed markets – are interested in the ‘what, how and who’ behind the products, goods and services they consume. Producers can be proud of what they do and how the outcome of the hard work is nourishing the community. However, with so much information available to consumers, and often with contradictory messages, they can be overwhelmed and confused about the credentials of red meat.

Here, MLA Managing Director, Jason Strong, shares how MLA is working to inform consumers about the health, welfare and environmental credentials of red meat and drive continued demand and consumption domestically and overseas.

Slaughter

Eastern states cattle slaughter bounced back this week – albeit as a result of the reduced processor throughput for the previous week ending 11 October due to public holiday - with 151,000 head slaughtered last week, according to the National Livestock Reporting Service (NLRS).

Adult slaughter was reported 12% above the same week in 2018, despite an expectation for supplies to have tightened at this stage. However, with no spring reprieve and sustained dry conditions, cattle have continued to be pulled forward in strong numbers.

Inspiring consumers to diversify their mundane mid-week meal repertoire with lamb is the focus of Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) new Spring Lamb campaign launched today.

The six-week campaign builds on the successful ‘Too Easy’ campaign tagline and creative material, and includes a range of activities to appeal to consumers when they’re looking for ideas for weeknight dinners.

MLA Domestic Market Manager Graeme Yardy said the Spring Lamb campaign is aimed at educating and building confidence for Australians to cook lamb as part of their routine meals.

The latest ABS slaughter data reports national lamb slaughter at 1.5 million head in July, well below year-ago levels and stable with June volumes – the lowest monthly slaughter since January 2012.

The decline was underpinned by the limited availability of old season lambs. As much of the country continues to endure dry conditions, the tighter supply of new season lambs entering the market throughout spring will be a key driver to how national indicators track. 

The national saleyard trade lamb indicator rose to 934¢/kg carcase weight (cwt) in mid-July, as saleyards saw strong demand from processors to maintain supply. It has since dropped more than 100¢ and on Tuesday was recorded at 796¢/kg cwt, falling 17¢ below year-ago levels.

Below is the link to the 2019 calendar of analysis dates. This can also be found on the Resources menu as well.

2019-Calendar.pdf

2019 Dates
15th January 2019		7th January 2019
1st February 2019		21st January 2019
15th February 2019		7th February 2019
1st March 2019		21st February 2019