Back three to four months ago when numbers first began to run in here Dubbo long time commission buyer Mick Ward suggested to the writer that the centre would eventually see this magical number achieved.

While many of us thought that those sort of numbers may never be obtained Mick's prediction of many months ago has now come to fruition in the first sale in spring.

o o o

The prime cattle market in the last month has soared to new highs, levels we have not seen for a very long time.

There is a multitude of reasons behind this surge in price including: the reopening of the live cattle trade has removed vast numbers of cattle in the north from the domestic market.

Secondly, wide spread rain has given many producers the option to hold cattle.

To be sure there are still large numbers of cattle from central Queensland to the Northern Territory and much of this landscape is still very dry.

Nevertheless many years of drought and poor calvings due to the prolonged dry has taken its toll on the overall numbers even in this part of the country.

To accentuate these declining numbers the slaughter rate of females from this area in recent years has been absolutely massive.

o o o

The world demand for our red meat production seems almost insatiable with new markets apparently coming on line or expanding every day.

The Australian dollar hovering around 93c US, while not as low as many would like has at least been constant and to all reports this has been helping our markets advance.

o o o

Another component in the equation is the ability of the processors to pay extra.

After a long time of processor profits at the expense of producers the tide has finally taken a turn.

The grazing industry needs considerable time to regroup their finances, pay off debt and where desired be in a position to expand.

This can only be achieved by prices remaining high for at least a lengthy period.

We should not begrudge processors making profits because we certainly need them to keep their doors open, but hopefully it is now our time.

o o o

The writer still feels that as we move further into spring and the major selling season, there is still some upside left in this cattle market.

It is good to see the northern markets finally catching up with saleyard prices in the central west and this should in time take some pressure of the selling centres in our area.

One downside to the cattle market is that store sale prices have as yet not caught up with prices being achieved at prime cattle sales.

This has led to many young preg-tested cows finding their way into the prime cattle sales and thus mostly going to slaughter rather than being purchased by restockers and calved out.

One of the main reasons for this development is the value per litre of foetal blood which is found in substantial quantities in PTIC cows.