Home Market Report Livestock May 2019

Market Report from Carrfields Livestock with Phil Young
Market update as at 29 April 2019
Market Update
The dry weather in most parts of the North Island continues to see a struggling store cattle market in most places. The Waikato and South Auckland areas are the worst effected with testing growing conditions being the norm even though there has been 40 to 60mls of rain in most places over the last two weeks.
The Waikato and Bay of Plenty auctions have provided good buying opportunities for those in a position to take advantage. Two-year-old steers of reasonable quality can be purchased at between $2.40 and $2.70 per kg and heifers of the same age have been at around $2.20 to $2.30 in some places.
The dairy farmers are continuing to send large numbers of cull cows and the market has held up reasonably for this time of the year considering the pressure on space that occurs over the short weeks around Easter and Anzac.
There still seems reasonable demand for store lambs with most interest coming from more southern regions. Prices ranging from $3.00 to $3.40 depending on weight and bred.
We are now right in the middle of the dairy selling season and Carrfields Livestock have 2-3 on farm auctions a week booked through till the end of the month. The market is solid on good quality, well recorded cows though lesser types are providing a challenge.
Bull sale time is not far away, and Carrfields Livestock are heavily involved with these sales throughout the country. Our Genetics team have done a great job lifting our profile and have increased the quality of service that we are able to provide in this area. We are looking forward to reporting positive results from these sales at the end of June.
For further information please contact your local Carrfields Livestock representative.