Market indicators
Between January and July 2016, cattle market indicators across the board in WA have been very strong.
As seen below in Figure 15, the WA feeder yearling saleyard indicator has been well above that reported for the corresponding months in the previous three years and the prices quoted have been 10% to 21% higher than the corresponding months in 2015, which was also a well-priced year. As of July 2016, the feeder yearling indicator was 329c/kg compared to 289c/kg at the same time in 2015.
The heavy cow saleyard indicator (Figure 16), while well-placed, is not as strong as the feeder yearling indicator. For the first three months of 2016 it sat below the prices experienced in 2015, but surpassed 2015 prices in April. However, these prices were well above those experienced in 2013 and 2014. In July 2016, the price was 242c/kg compared to 207c/kg in July 2015.
To date in 2016, the pastoral cow saleyard indicator (Figure 17) has also been very high. While it was slightly less than that of 2015 in February, it was well above the quotations for the previous two years and in March it rose above 2015 prices and has remained there. In July 2016, the pastoral cow saleyard indicator was 210c/kg.
The light bull saleyard indicator (Figure 18) has been well above the prices experienced during the previous three years and has been between 11% and 40% stronger than the corresponding times in 2015. In July, the light bull saleyard indicator was averaging 307c/kg.
