Part of a line of 66 Angus backgrounder steers, 6-7 months of age averaging 214kg from Frederick Hill, Benalla, northern Victoria which made 412c/kg or $880 a head in yesterday’s sale.

Numbers surged again in the third weekly Friday AuctionsPlus cattle sale for 2016 held yesterday, where 9331 head were offered in three sales.

The catalogue rose another 30pc in volume on the previous week, with recent rain impacting on Southern states contributing to a gallery of 382 registered bidders.

Queensland accounted for 4119 head or 45pc of the yarding; NSW 3769 head or 40pc; Victoria 1148 head and South Australia 295 head.

Weaners, weaners and more weaners were the hot topic this week with an even spread of steers and heifers catalogued. Breeders also had a strong presence with big numbers coming out of Queensland, as well as young cows and calves.

Light steers less than 250kg were dominated by weaners, and averaged 369c/kg.

Top price went to a tidy line of 66 Angus backgrounder steers, 6-7 months of age averaging 214kg from Frederick Hill, Benalla, northern Victoria making 412c/kg or $880 a head. A second heavier 237kg pen of 97 sibling steers from the same vendor made 386c/kg or $915 a head.

New South Wales also produced high weaner prices with a line of Angus steers from Carinda weighing 201kg making 407c/kg or $820. Queensland’s weaners all made above 300c/kg, averaging 338c/kg which was a great result for this weight range.

Unjoined heifers were also dominant in numbers with heifers less than 250kg making cracking prices. Top price was a line of Angus unjoined heifers from Carinda, NSW making 412c/kg or $800 a head which came from the same vendor as the steers listed above.

This weight range also had the highest average out of the unjoined heifers, averaging 347c/kg. High numbers were also dominant in the 300-350 kg weightrange with most numbers coming out of NSW, with an average of 294c/kg.

Young PTIC females under two years made up the majority of female numbers for this week, delivering an average price of $1299 per head. Top price went to a line of 3-4 year olds from Guyra, NSW PTIC to Angus bulls, selling for $1640.

In the cows and calves category, top price was a line of 4-5 year old Angus cows and calves from Wellington, NSW making $2100. Another tidy line of joined Angus cows and calves from Armidale made $1875, while the top line from Queensland was a line of Droughtmaster cows and calves from Tara making $1850.