This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
AFTER a dry February for eastern states, Australia’s agricultural markets have seen mixed results, with declines across livestock and strong output from the horticultural sector.
According to Rural Bank’s March Insights update, agricultural commodities saw diverse outcomes for the month.
Australian cattle prices were softer throughout February and are expected to drop again in March, with the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator (EYCI) down 6.5% month-on-month to 626c/kg. Reflecting a 10.5% EYCI decline year-on-year.
With the Western Young Cattle Indicator also seeing a 6.8% decline month-on-month to 431c/kg, reflecting a 43.6% decline year-on-year.
Lamb prices also softened over the month, amidst ongoing high supply, which is expected to remain high over the next few weeks before tightening over the month.
While the Australian wool market found some stability in the second half of February, falls in the across the first five weeks of the year.
With the Eastern Market Indicator February at 1,158c/kg, down 4.5% on its opening value for the year and down 15.4% year-on-year.
Diary on the other hand has seen a 2% increase on this time last year, with 4.6 billion litres of milk at the halfway point of the season. Though this is still 4.5% below the average.
With the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) Index up 7.6% since November 2023 but still 3.9% below the five-year average.
Across most key horticultural commodities, supply and quality are high after a dry month, particularly across the eastern states.
Though the upcoming dry three-month forecast across the east coast may see some water stress begin to impact irrigated crop output coming into winter, particularly in Queensland.
Cropping results were weakened over the month, with global grain markets continuing to fall.
With Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat prices dropping to three-and-half-year lows, while Russian wheat exports and supply held strong but prices dropped.
With wheat values in other key regions, such as Australia, following the Russian price downgrade.
