Feeder heifers still sought in drier areas

Lindsay Fryer, AWN Orange, said along with other categories of stock demand and prices for heifers was slowly rising.

"The market's rising around our local area - it's been grass driven and the fact we're still having a pretty good season and there's more rain on the horizon," he said.

"That heifer and cow and calf market did get rather cheap... then a lot of the restockers stepped in and they're now keeping a floor in the market which is good."

Mr Fryer said a couple of years ago people were mostly buying heifers for future breeding stock, however that had changed.

"We are starting to see more heifers going back to the butcher," he said.

"Now they're just trying to fatten heifers with the numbers that are out there."

Mr Fryer said there had been a lift in the market right across the board.

"It's driven because the prices of the cattle had been so cheap that we've been able to step back in and buy cattle at reasonable prices," he said.

"There's more people starting to buy cattle than they have in previous years because it just got too dear."

Mr Fryer said he hoped the market had already hit the bottom.

"I think it got too cheap and that enabled people to start putting some cattle away now and we'll see what happens over the next twelve months," he said.

At Grafton's store cattle sale last Thursday heifers were in shorter supply but prices were up on last month with recent rain boosting confidence.

Heifers in the 200 kilogram to 300kg averaged 195.9 cents a kilogram, or $447 a head, up from 130.3c/kg or $332 last month, and weaner heifers reached a top of 272c/kg.

As well as local producers there was strong buying support from Queensland.

However in the south of the state in the Braidwood region Nick Harton, Jim Hindmarsh and Son, said it was still too dry for restockers to be in the market.

"If you looked at Auctionsplus on Friday you'd think we'd had 10 inches of rain statewide," he said.

"Locally we're not seeing the demand. Our season here at Braidwood we need a lot more rain before anyone even thinks about buying cattle."

Mr Harton said there had been a shift in demand for feeder weight heifers.

"Feeders are starting to show more interest again but not at any price point," he said.

"They're not setting the world on fire but not too bad from where it was."

Mr Harton said in the local markets last week there was a 10c/kg to 20c/kg price rise across the board which was promising.