Markets

Dubbo sale 14 Nov: Southern buyers add floor to market

David Monk, 15/11/2019

SOUTHERN buyers from the south of NSW and Victorian restockers continue to put a solid floor in the restocker market with once again large numbers of young cattle in store condition mixed throughout the yarding.

Numbers lifted a little with a yarding of 3885. It was a mostly plain quality yarding with large numbers of plain conditioned cows and young calves which included several total herd dispersals due to the drought. Week after week we see people selling the remainder of their cattle as the drought really tightens its grip. There were good numbers of yearlings with fair numbers to suit the feeders along with some well finished cattle to suit the processors. There were limited numbers of well finished grown steers and heifers. Not all the regular buyers were operating with some feeder buyers and cow buyers absent. The cattle were sourced from a large area with a fair representation from the far west along with a large consignment from St George in Queensland. There were also fair numbers of local cattle though a lot of people are wondering how long the numbers will keep coming with several people already destocked.

NLRS advises the young cattle to the trade were firm with the prime steer yearlings selling from 269c to 300c while the prime heifer yearlings sold from 245c to 288c/kg.

Due to the absence of a couple of regular buyers the feeder steers were 17c to 20c cheaper while the feeder heifers were 9c to 14c/kg cheaper. The feeder steers sold from 259c to 309c with the large number of light and medium weights averaging 274c and 280c/kg. Very limited numbers of heavy weights over 400kg averaged 303c/kg. The feeder heifers sold from 240c to 278c with the bulk of the heifers in the medium weight range and they averaged 260c/kg. Limited heavy weights averaged 272c/kg.

With solid support from the southern restockers particularly on the heifer portion young cattle to the restockers were 15c to 20c/kg dearer. The young steers sold from 196c to 315c with the calves under 200kg averaging 244c while the good number of store conditioned yearlings weighing between 200kg and 280kg averaged 276c/kg. The young restocker heifers sold from 188c to 281c with the lightweights here averaging the same as the steers at 245c while the very large number of yearlings weighing between 200kg and 280kg averaged almost the same as the steers at 270c/kg.

The few grown steers were 12c cheaper with the prime medium weights selling from 280c to 297c while the grown heifers were 10c cheaper with the better types selling from 260c to 287c/kg. Grown steers to the feeders sold from 246c to 290c while fair numbers of grown heifers sold to the restockers ranging in price from 170c to 248c/kg.

The cow market commenced the sale on a much cheaper note but gained momentum in the middle of the sale after a major northern processor commenced buying. The cow market finished 2c to 5c cheaper with the 1 and 2 scores to the processors selling from 170c to 230c with the 2 score cows weighing between 400kg and 520kg averaging 210c/kg. The better 3 and 4 score cows sold from 220c to 274c with the prime heavy weights averaging 255c/kg. Large numbers of cows to the restockers were considerably cheaper due to quality with the restockers paying from 100c for very plain lightweight cows to 225c for younger cows in forward condition. The feeders also operated on fair numbers of cows paying from 205c to 242c for cows carrying a bit of condition.

The bull market was 2c dearer with the good number of well-muscled heavy weights selling from 263c to 310c to average 291c/kg. Young bulls to the restockers sold from 180c to 233c/kg.

HAVE YOUR SAY

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Your comment will not appear until it has been moderated.
Contributions that contravene our Comments Policy will not be published.

Comments

Get Beef Central's news headlines emailed to you -
FREE!