COW prices have taken another hit this week, as record breaking numbers continue to pour through saleyards in Northern New South Wales.

Dubbo saleyards hosted another record yarding yesterday, with agents working into the night to auction off 11,500 head. Big numbers also came out of Tamworth and Gunnedah.

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As the numbers have gone up, cattle prices have gone down. Meat & Livestock Australia’s processor cow indicator has dropped 25c this week to 290c/kg – the first time it has been below 300c since July last year. The indicator has dropped 50c in the month.

Big numbers of cows have been coming forward in recent months, with MLA analyst Alex Fry finding that March was the biggest national cow yarding on record with 84,069 head.

Dubbo and Inverell were the biggest contributors to this week’s processor cow indicator, with both yards also big contributors to the March numbers. The sell-off of Angus cows in Northern NSW was a major topic of last week’s WagyuEdge conference, with talk of a big shortage of high-quality Angus and Wagyu cattle on the horizon.

In this week’s Weekly Kill column, direct consignment grids for cows in Southern Queensland were still making about 680c/kg carcase weight – with southern processors now present in both saleyards and direct consignment markets in Queensland.

Although the market has fallen, it is still historically strong for cows with good heavy cows making about $2200.

The 90CL trimmings price, which largely underpinned the surge in cow prices over the past six months, has remained strong. It has reached as high as 1199c in recent weeks and the latest quote on the Beef Central website has 90CL prices at 1150c.

Several markets are underpinning the 90CL trimmings price, with America’s herd still at record lows and other markets, include Europe, looking towards Australia for trimmings.

Young cattle prices also drop

The Eastern Young Cattle Indicator has also dropped this week, going below 800c/kg carcase weight for the first time since July last year – opening today 782c. The indicator has dropped 71c in the past month.

The main contributors to the EYCI drop are different to the main contributors for cows, with the Roma and Dalby saleyards having the biggest numbers.

National Livestock Reporting Service reports from both Roma and Dalby both remarked that cattle had been drawn from Western Qld and even the Northern Territory.