More than 100 mm of rain has fallen across a large part of Queensland in what is shaping up as the most widespread and influential rain event in at least eight months, Beef Central reported. Most of it fell in a band from Charleville in the south-west to Hughenden in the north, with good falls also in north-western New South Wales and Central Australia.
The rain cut the Landsborough Highway between Longreach and Barcaldine, the only major road closed at the time, and limited access on many smaller roads. Notable falls included 171 mm in three days at Lisnalee Station south of Tambo, 106 mm at Koreelah west of Charleville and 85 mm at Victoria Downs near Morven. The Bureau of Meteorology expects the system to linger for the rest of the week, bringing rain across the eastern states.
For graziers the timing matters. Most of the wet area is coming off a strong season and still carries a body of feed that had been drying out in recent warm weather, and the soaking is expected to go a long way towards setting it up for another season.
Cattle markets have been volatile, especially for restocker cattle, as dry conditions and changing forecasts swung supply and demand. National yardings fell 7% last week to 54,403 head, after more than 63,000 the week before and more than 73,000 on 25 September, as some producers kept stock back in anticipation of rain. All cattle indicators rose last week, by up to 11% for the restocker yearling heifer indicator.
Offerings early this week are down because of the rain, though no sale cancellations had been announced. Roma's store sale had preliminary bookings of about 3,500 head and Dalby about 2,700, nearly 1,000 fewer than the previous week. Forbes in New South Wales went against the trend, with numbers up 600 to 2,283 head and yearling feeder steers firm to 6 cents better at 479-555 cents a kilogram, on expectations of stronger restocker demand after the rain.
Source: Beef Central
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