Day 4: livestock units and prices

Livestock have their own language. These words help you compare stock, read a price and work out what a sale is worth.

Units for comparing stock

DSE (dry sheep equivalent). A standard unit for comparing how much feed different stock eat. NSW DPI says a 50 kg wether kept at a steady weight is rated at 1 DSE. A wether is a castrated male sheep. Some areas use a 45 kg wether instead. A cow with a calf eats far more than one sheep, so it is rated at many DSE.

Carrying capacity. How many DSE a paddock or farm can run over the year. It lets you compare a sheep enterprise and a cattle enterprise on the same country.

Gross margin per DSE. The gross margin divided by the DSE carried. It is a fair way to compare enterprises that use the same feed.

Weights

Liveweight (lwt). The weight of the live animal, such as on a saleyard scale.

Carcase weight (cwt). The weight of the meat and bone after slaughter.

Dressing percentage. MLA gives it as carcase weight divided by liveweight, times 100. It lets you turn a liveweight into a carcase weight.

HSCW (hot standard carcase weight). Used for pigs. Australian Pork Limited's training manual says the pig carcase must be weighed hot, and weights are reported on a standard carcase definition. That lets buyers and sellers compare like with like.

Prices

c/kg lwt. Cents per kilogram of liveweight. A price on the live animal.

c/kg cwt. Cents per kilogram of carcase weight. Sales straight to a processor, called over the hooks, are priced this way.

To compare the two, you need the dressing percentage. A high carcase price is not always better than a lower live price.

Cost of production. What it costs to produce one kilogram of beef, lamb or pork, including a share of overheads. Compare it with the price you get to see the margin on each kilogram.

Where to start

Ask how the farm sells its stock: through the saleyard, over the hooks or on a direct contract. Then ask what the last sale made per head, and work it back to cents per kilogram.

Our cattle trading margin, sheep gross margin and piggery feed margin tools all use these units.