WODONGA WEANER SALE

Date: January 5, 2021

Agents: Elders and Paull & Scollard- Nutrien

EYCI: 758.75c/kg

Feeder steer Average: 464c/kg lwt (EYCI rating +4.2 points)

SUMMARY: 1818 HEAD

STEERS: 450KG+ $17980-$2170, av 454c/kg; 360-450KG $1705-$1890, av 464c/kg; 280-360KG: $1530-$1750, AV 496c/kg

HEIFERS: 360-450KG $1570-$1730, av 443c/kg, 280-360kg, av 476c/kg

 

NORTHERN interstate online competition underpinned a better-than-expected result on the opening day of the Wodonga/Wangaratta beef weaner sales series.

Competing for a quality 1818 head Angus mixed sex weaner penning at NVLX Barnawartha, the strong online inquiry claimed a sold 46.7 percent of the total yarding and an amazing 60% of the heifer offering.

Additional at-the-rail interstate competition also added vital substance to the overall northern demand that trucked an estimated 70 percent of all sales to northern NSW with some lots also bound for southern Qld.

The market for steers was solid through all categories.

Paull & Scollard-Nutrien auctioneer, Luke Deimel quoted sales as being 20c/kg stronger than the duo-agent’s previous early-December market, and on par to his company’s most recent late-December Myrtleford sale.

A lot of the cattle offered in those two previous penning Mr Deimel said were breeders’ lines normally retained in their January penning.

Elders lead-auctioneer Brett Shea said the result especially in the heifer section exceeded expectation by a long, long shot.

“The northern demand was certain more aggressive and much more dominant than we have previously experienced” Mr Shea said.

The market top for the day, of $2170 a head, was paid for a yard of 17-18-month-old Angus grown steers weighed at 476kg.

Watch the opening lane of sales:

Purchased as “baby” four-to-five-month-old calves at a cost of $600, this yard of 18 was offered by G. Tallent of Burrumbuttock, while vendor Boggy Creek also sold yards of Angus grown steers – 19 weighed at 466kg and a further yard of nine, weighed at 436kg, sold for $2040.

The top priced yard of genuine-aged Autumn-drop weaners made $1980 a head.

Weighed at 460kg, this pen of 16, was offered by AM Wallace, Porepunkah while P&A Caponecchia, Bobinawarrah, sold the tops of their draft – a yard of 7, 469kg at the same money.

Trevor McGuffie, trading as McGuffie Glenburn, Buffalo River sold the top of his draft – a yard of seven, 429kg at $1890 while C Boyd & Sons, also of Bobinawarrah sold their best yard of 16, 415kg at $1820.

FR Fisher, Barnawartha -13 Angus, 397kg, $1840, D&M Martin, Sandy Creek- 16 Angus, 392kg, $1820, BW & PM Boardman, Cookardina – 10 Angus, 412kg, $1810, IS & B McLarty, Tallangatta Valley and N&D Prosser, Mount Alfred- 8 Angus, 395kg, $1800 were also vendors to score prices to exceeding $1800, which saw feedlots at Bunnaloo and Rangers Valley ink buys at 440-450c/kg.

A large portion of the steer yarding was then sold in a price range of $1650 to $1800. These included pens weighing 360-400kg that returned a per-kilogram rate between 450 to 500-cents while the lighter 280-360kg pens mostly made 470 to 515-cents with a sale high 563c/kg.

Watch Beef Central’s post-sale interview with Brett Shea, Elders:

The demand for heifers was full of substance with the online competition holding sway over local operators also eager to put young females back into the paddock.

At the heaviest end of the heifer yarding – where pens exceeded 360kg- most lots made 410-415c/kg. But, as the weights declined and the competition intensified a price regime of 450 to 485c/kg became common, with half-a-dozen or more pens breaking the $5/kg barrier.

The Caponecchia, Bobinawarrah, family’s pen of 10 Angus, 421kg, rang the heifer-bell top at $1730/head while AM Wallace, Porepunkah, ran a close second selling a yard of 13, 415kg at $1730 along with 27 Rylin Pty Ltd, Bobinawarrah Angus heifers, 364kg, also sold at $1720.

A number of other vendors also scored top-end-sales to exceed $1600.

These included C Rigoni and Sons, Mudgegonga -20 Angus, 359kg, $1680, A Caponecchia -24 Angus, 363kg, $1660, AM Wallace – 25 Angus, 366kg, $1665, and P & J Scott, Jindera- 16 Angus, 346kg, $1640 while Three Rivers Angus, Kancoona – 25, 335kg, N&D Prosser, Mt Alfred- 18 Angus, 331kg, PA & SL Walpole, Whorouly South – 23 Angus, $330, and JM Star, Cudgewa – 18 Angus, 388, all sold pens at $1610.

Overall, the Elders and Paull & Scollard-Nutrien assembled yarding, which grossed $3.03m, drew the attention of 228 online viewers with $756,000 spent by 34 active buyers.

Volume northern buyers represented from Yass, Barraba, North Star, Coonamble Tamworth and Glen Innes while the local inquiry was spurned from the Albury-Wodonga and Wangaratta district valleys.