Daryl Holt, left, and son-in-law, Paul Righetti, sold 80 Angus heifers at Ballarat, Friday, from $1130 to $1420. Daryl said his heifers made $90p/h more than he expected, and he was very happy with their results.

RAIN in the northern states, a good season in most of Victoria, and an excellent quality offering of yearling and younger heifers combined to drive prices higher at the Ballarat grown female and weaner heifer sale on Friday.

Some vendors commented the market up was to $200 more than expected.

Agents offered 3900 heifers with most weighing between 320 and 470 kilograms liveweight.

Competition for heifers to grain feed was enormous with buyers purchasing weights mostly from 340kg to 520kg.

Young farmer of the future, Cooper Ross, was with dad, Mark Ross, Waubra, who sold yearling Angus heifers for $1540 to a processor feedlot.

W&K Blackmore sold Angus heifers for the market top price of $1600.

Overall the yarding averaged $1164 per head.

It took over 80 pens before producers were able to make a purchase, with feedlots and opportunity feeders, from as far north as Gunnedah, buying numerous loads.

Video interview – Peter Kostos discusses the market with TB White & Sons’ Leo White 

With competition being so strong, equivalent liveweight prices equaled 320 to 360c/kg liveweight for almost 90 per cent of the offering.

Parklands Investment Management sold 106 Angus heifers from $1130 to $1300 with one pen equaling 379c/kg lwt.

Limited supplies of younger heifers attracted strong competition from producers to background heifers for future feeding, and a small number of processors, with most selling between $850 and $1100 per head.

Most of the yarding were Angus heifers, but several lines of well bred Hereford heifers also sold very well.

Will Richardson, HR Richardson & Co, Colac, purchased Angus heifers, at Ballarat, to fatten on grass. Will said he was buying heifers because he knows that steers at next week’s sale will make a lot more money.

Yanika Pty Ltd sold 44 Hereford heifers, Deloraine blood, from $1190 to $1290, and almost equaled their Angus heifers sold earlier in the sale.

Angus/Hereford, Charolais, Murray Grey, and composite heifers, all sold very well, equaling 324 to 354c/kg lwt.

Next week, Ballarat agents will offer 5100 steers, which will be another excellent quality offering. Look out for Beef Central’s report for this sale, next Friday.