Markets

‘As good a sale as I’ve ever seen’ – southern weaners hit 294c

Terry Sim, 19/01/2015
Gippsland heifers buyers Alan and Kate McDonald paid $940 for Angus heifers at Hamilton

Gippsland heifers buyers Alan and Kate McDonald paid $940 for Angus heifers at Hamilton.

Banquet Angus principal Steve Branson, left, with Doug Robertson and Pam McIntyre - proud sellers of the top-priced $940 Angus heifers at Hamilton

Banquet Angus principal Steve Branson, left, with Doug Robertson and Pam McIntyre – proud sellers of the top-priced $940 Angus heifers at Hamilton.

Charolais-Angus breeder Eddie McGrath, with Charlotte McCutcheon, sold steers for up to $1118 at Warrnambool last Friday

Charolais-Angus breeder Eddie McGrath, with Charlotte McCutcheon, sold steers for up to $1118 at Warrnambool last Friday.

Weaner steer prices edged above 250c/kg liveweight and heifers made up to 294c/kg in southern Victorian sales last week.

Demand from cattle breeders seeking replacement Angus heifers combined with strong processor and feedlot competition pushed prices to 294c/kg liveweight at Elders and Landmark’s Hamilton sales last Thursday.

At Warrnambool on Friday, several pens of Angus and Angus cross steers sold for more than $900, with heavy pens topping $1000. Weighed lines made to 254c/kg. Charolais-Angus cross heifers sold to 232c/kg and the best Angus heifers made to 222c/kg.

The 300kg-plus Angus heifers sought by breeders in the Hamilton sale made from 220c/kg-294c/kg, mainly going to Gippsland, south-west Victorian and south-east SA buyers. Other Angus lines, 300-400kg, generally made 210c/kg-232c/kg to processors and feedlot backgrounders, some attempting to avoid dear steer prices in recent weeks or topping up orders.

Angus cross or black baldie heifers 250kg-plus failed to attract any significant breeder competition at Hamilton, selling for 208-225 to processors and for backgrounding for grass or feedlot finishing locally, into Gippsland, or New South Wales.

Select pens of Hereford heifers 280kg-plus sold to NSW and district breeder competition for 206-220c/kg, but most whiteface heifers, 235-360kg, made from 190-216C/kg to processors and backgrounders at Hamilton.

Lighter Angus and Angus cross heifers, 250-300kg, sold from 208-225c/kg for backgrounding for feedlots into SA or NSW, or for grass backgrounding in Gippsland or NSW – Walcha, Albury, Gunnedah and Scone.

Landmark's Hugh Douglas sells Angus heifers in Hamilton.

Landmark’s Hugh Douglas sells Angus heifers in Hamilton.

Landmark Hamilton auctioneer Hugh Douglas sold Grassdale Angus breeder Doug Robertson’s first pen of 25 Banquet blood Nangana heifers, 320kg liveweight, to Gippsland producer Alan McDonald and his daughter Kate for 294c/kg or $940.80 a head.

Mr McDonald said he was looking for the top Banquet blood heifers in the sale. He also paid 265c/kg or $866.55 for Winninburn’s 21 327kg Angus heifers. He wasn’t expecting to pay as much, but paid $850 for 24 Box Hill blood heifers at Yea the previous week.

“(The Nangana heifers) are very good heifers and the breeder has a great reputation,” Mr McDonald said.

‘If you want the best heifers, you should be prepared to pay that sort of money…’

“So if you want the best heifers you should be prepared to pay that sort of money.”

The Glen Alvie breeder said he would join the heifers to an Angus bull around Easter to produce prime yearlings for sale over the hooks at around 360kg liveweight by 10-11 months.

“If you want to do that you really do have to have some very good stock.

“It is easy to get them to 300kg, but it is not too easy to get them over 350kg.”

Mr Robertson said he was hoping for 250c/kg, but that was just “one out of the box.” His top heifers sold for 210c/kg last year.

“250c/kg would have been good, but at that sort of money there is a reasonable return in it.

“Anything under 200c/kg it is pretty tough, because the costs are high and you try to buy good bulls.”

Landmark agent Rob Lovell said to have heifers start at 220c/kg and go to 294c/kg, “you would say there were two people absolutely determined to buy those cattle.”

“We will enjoy it while we can.”

He said people tried to buy the heifers before the sale before 200c/kg.

Auctioneer Hugh Douglas said the sale was a fantastic result, but perhaps only about 500 heifers of the 2500 cattle yarded were brought for breeding.

“It is going to be interesting to see what joined females do at Mt Gambier and Naracoorte in coming weeks.

He said buyers were going into the weaner sales with confidence because of the strength of the prime market.

Elders auctioneer Aaron Malseed and his team sell Hereford heifers at Hamilton.

Elders auctioneer Aaron Malseed and his team sell Hereford heifers at Hamilton.

Elders auctioneer Aaron Malseed said a few select pens sold to strong breeder competition and the sale was solid throughout, with buying mainly coming from processor and feedlot demand.

Elders Tamworth buyer Ron Rutledge said the Thursday yarding contained less weight than the Hamilton private agents’ sale on Wednesday, “but cents per kilogram the cattle end up in the same bracket.”

LMB Linke auctioneer Derek Morse said the better Angus heifers made 220-240c/kg on Wednesday and the lighter blacks sold for 200-220c/kg. Buyers on Thursday paid more for the lighter Herefords chasing breeders’ lines and filling trucks, he said.

“A lot of these heifer buyers though steers were too dear and they are restocking with heifers.”

But he said northern demand for females has started on AuctionsPlus for joined cattle and he expected this to continue.

Stock and Land’s Murray Arnel quoted Angus heifers selling to 250c/kg or $896 a head on Wednesday, with most at 210-225c/kg and Herefords at 194-215c/kg.

Mr Rutledge said traders would continue to operate at the weaner heifer sales, with any northern breeder demand likely to be on cows and calves or joined females. He bought 250 on Thursday to go to Tamworth and Walcha for backgrounding on pasture prior to feedlot finishing.

Warrnambool steers to 251c/kg-plus

At Warrnambool on Friday, most of the steer yarding sold for more than 230c/kg with Glenbrae’s 13 456kg Angus-Simmentals making 224c/kg or $1041 to a NSW buyer and 12 440kg Angus steers making 235c//kg or $1035 for GJ and MA Riordan.

Weighed Angus steers sold to 254c/kg and Charolais cross heifers made to 232c/kg in the yarding of almost 4000 head.

Wentworth Close’s 40 295kg Angus steers sold for 254c/kg or $749.30 to a Geelong district buyer and most other black steers over 250kg made 222-251c/kg. Wangoom breeder Clare Gibbs sold her 17 Angus steers, estimated at 220kg, sold for $630 open auction or about 286c/kg.

Wootanga Park sold 25 362kg Charolais-Angus cross heifers for 232c/kg or $839.84 and principal Eddie McGrath’s top 18 451kg steers made 248c/kg or $1118 a head. Another pen of 15 unweighed Charolais-Angus steers, estimated at 295kg, made $765 or around 259c/kg.

J. and J. Kelly agent Jack Kelly said he was expecting the prices to reach these levels, based on the strength of the prime market, but a strong western Victorian order for Euro steers to go onto shot barley stubble boosted prices.

“It was just nice to see.

“South Australia was very strong, Gippsland, Euroa and into NSW.”

He said prices have been climbing since the Hamilton, Casterton and Colac sales.

“We’ve just hit it right.

‘It was as good a sale as I’ve ever seen’

“It was as good a sale as I’ve ever seen (since 1977), from the first to the last pen.”

Apart from the few breeders seeking select lines of replacement heifers, the buyers at Warrnambool were mainly either Victorian or interstate feedlots or backgrounders, with processor competition on the better-finished heavier pens.

Mr McGrath said his prices were the best he had received in seven years of breeding Charolais-Angus cattle, with all his heavy steers averaging over $900.

Most of the weighed heifers made from $650-$$750 in the sale, with Angus lines over 300kg generally making 207-230c/kg.

Article and pictures: Terry Sim

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