The decline in cattle values has spread across all states, all categories and in both saleyard and over the hooks trading this week, and there is no sign of ending, according to Meat and Livestock Australia.
The seasonal flush of young cattle, deteriorating southern pastures and weakening export demand have coincided to push prices down 10-15pc from their peaks in September.
But MLA reports that not even a 24pc fall in national cattle yardings this week could prevent falls of 3-6pc in national price averages.
And it is warning that the market has the "propensity to overreact to the temporary disruption in global trade caused by the financial crisis, particularly with the season working against many southern producers".
Global markets are not expected to recover until early 2009 when import stocks run down and provided the Aussie dollar remains low.
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