Weekly cattle and sheep market wrap

03 Jul 2026

Key points

The Feeder Steer Indicator lifted to its highest level since 2022.
The Merino Lamb and Mutton Indicators both broke records.

Lamb and mutton slaughter fell as some processors began winter maintenance periods.

Cattle market

The national cattle yarding dropped 15% this week to 54,031 head, and the indicators received mixed results, ranging from a 5% drop for the Heavy Steer Indicator and a 3% gain for the Restocker Yearling Heifer Indicator.

The National Young Cattle Indicator (NYCI) remained stable at 526¢/kg liveweight (lwt) across an offering of 21,608 head. Roma contributed 23% of the offering at 520¢/kg lwt, while NSW online sales accounted for 17% of the offering at 575¢/kg lwt.

The Feeder Steer Indicator lifted 2% to 553¢/kg lwt – its highest level since June 2022 – across an offering of 5,412 head. Wagga contributed 23% of the offering (at 573¢/kg lwt) while Tamworth and Carcoar both reached over 600¢/kg lwt, contributing 3% and 11% to the national total.

Sheep market

Both the Merino Lamb Indicator and the Mutton Indicator reached new records at 1,156¢/kg carcase weight (cwt) and 928¢/kg cwt, respectively. Tighter supply saw yardings reduce, with the national lamb yarding falling 3% to 111,646 head, and the sheep yarding falling 14% to 36,402 head. The lighter yarding caused all indicators to lift, except for the Heavy Lamb and Restocker Lamb indicators.

The Light Lamb Indicator lifted 2% to reach 1,183¢/kg cwt across an offering of 8,523 head. Victoria contributed 22% of the national total and made 1,157¢/kg cwt. The best prices were found in Hamilton at 1,280¢/kg cwt across a smaller offering of 363 head.

The Restocker Lamb Indicator fell 2% to 1,217¢/kg cwt across an offering of 14,879 head. Wagga made up 29% of the contribution and reached a premium of 1,303¢/kg cwt. Lighter yardings at Carcoar, Yass and Tamworth also all reached above 1,300¢/kg cwt.

Slaughter

Week ending 26 June 2026

Cattle

National cattle slaughter remained stable at 156,553 head (a lift of 484 head). Tasmania and Victoria dropped by 4% and 3% respectively, while all other states lifted by 1%.

State-by-state cattle slaughter (YoY):

NSW: down 6% to 35,148 head
Queensland: up 1% to 83,908 head
SA: up 2% to 3,877 head
Tasmania: down 8% to 4,762 head
Victoria: down 6% to 24,940 head
WA: up 48% to 3,918 head.

Sheepmeat

National lamb and mutton slaughter dropped this week, with some facilities closing for scheduled winter maintenance periods. National lamb slaughter fell 18% to 343,294 head while national mutton slaughter dropped 38% to 45,935 head. This marks the lowest weekly level of mutton slaughter (outside of the first and last weeks of the year) since July 2020 – a period heavily interrupted by COVID lockdowns. Low slaughter and recent record prices for mutton in the last few weeks indicate a critically low level of sheep supply.

State-by-state lamb slaughter (YoY):

NSW: up 5% to 101,594 head
Queensland: down 25% to 1,035 head
SA: down 34% to 35,282 head
Tasmania: down 49% to 5,233 head
Victoria: down 17% to 164,320 head
WA: down 20% to 35,830 head.

Attribute content to: Alex Fry, MLA Market Information Analyst

Information is correct at time of publication on 3 July 2026

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