Part of a line of 84 Angus steers 12-14 months averaging 432kg from Kingston, SA sold on Thursday, returning 542c/kg or $2340. They are heading for a buyer near Anakie, VIC.

CLEARANCE dropped to just 49 percent – down 21 percentage points week-on-week – in a smaller offering of 9219 head on AuctionsPlus last week.

The sale was held on Thursday instead of the customary Friday, due to the Easter holidays.

Offerings last week fell 62pc on the previous two weeks, which both sat around 26,000 head, reflecting more cautious buyer activity.

Nine of the ten young cattle weight categories declined in c/kg value, with the only outlier being light heifers less than 200kg where numbers were thin. Breeding cattle trends were mixed.

Steers accounted for the largest share of the offering, though results were generally softer. Heavier steer categories fared relatively better – in fact in an unusual trend, just 6c/kg separated the average category price for all steers from 200-+400kg in weight.

The most notable declines were seen in light steers less than 200kg, back 117c/kg to average 475c, clearing 52pc of a small offering of 417 head, while steers 200-280kg lost 27c to average 503c, clearing half the offering of 1545 head.

Mediumweights 280-330kg lost 9c/kg to average 502c, clearing 57pc of the offering of 1000.

Steers 330-400kg eased 12c to average 504c/kg – clearing 56pc of the catalogue of 694, while feeder-weight steers +400kg dropped another 7c to average 498c, clearing 88pc of the small offering of 215 head.

Better results included 84 Angus steers 12-14 months averaging 432kg from Kingston, SA, returning 542c/kg or $2340. They are heading for a buyer near Anakie, VIC.

Larger lines included 115 Red Poll backgrounder/feeder steers 361kg at 14-16 months from Tambo, western Queensland, making 471c/kg or $1700.

Heifer results were mixed, but overall softer compared to last week’s rebound. Light heifers less than 200kg lifted 5c to average 429c/kg, but still cleared only 55pc of an offering of 522.

The largest offering came for heifers 200–280kg, where 916 were put forward, but managing to clear only 32pc, while prices plummeted 46c to average 391c.

Also falling sharply were heifers 280-330kg, where 542 were offered, clearing only 39pc. The market dipped 24c to average 423c/kg. Heavier heifers 330-400kg dropped 6c to average 433c, but managing to clear 88pc of the 432 head offered.

A line of 81 Angus heifers 10-11 months averaging 356kg from Hamilton, VIC, made 509c/kg or $1810, and will travel to a buyer near Wodonga, VIC.

Breeding females

Breeding female performance remained inconsistent due to the smaller offering. PTIC cows were the dominant offering, with 1417 catalogued, clearing 50pc to average $1777, down $144 on the previous week.

Station-mated cows and calves offered only 313 pairs, clearing 59pc, with prices lifting a healthy $397 to average $2429.

Twenty four Angus and Angus cross PTIC heifers 20-24 months averaging 444kg from Casino, NSW, returned $1920 and will travel to a buyer near Nemingha, NSW.

NSW vendors offered the largest catalogue volume on Thursday, followed by Queensland and Victoria.

Source: AuctionsPlus