Larger steer lines offered this week included these 1140 Beefmaster (similar to Droughtmaster) and Beefmaster x Charolais or Angus weaned steers 273kg at 9-12 months from Richmond, northwest Queensland, that sold from 590-601c/kg.

MOST young cattle categories showed price gains in online trading this week due to rain impact, however vendor expectations may have lifted, if the lower clearance is any measure.

Cattle listings on Elders’ and Nutrien’s AuctionsPlus platform lifted 4pc this week to 12,274 head, while clearance eased five percentage points to 85pc.

There were 5786 steers offered, clearing 93pc. Heifers cleared 81pc of the offering of 4890 head, while breeding female clearance struggled at 70pc, from an offering of 1391 head.

Steers 200-280kg saw an offering of 2044 head, clearing 100pc, averaging 620c/kg, down 10c on last week. The 280-330kg steers posted the strongest week-on-week gain, lifting 41c to average 634c/kg on a 91pc clearance of the catalogue of 741 head. Feeder weight steers +400kg cleared  91pc, averaging 557c/kg, unchanged on last week, while the 330-400kg steers lifted 7c to average 548c/kg on an 83pc clearance.

Highlights included 45 Angus steers 17-19 months averaging 479kg from Portland, VIC, returned 534c/kg and will travel to a buyer near Chinchilla, QLD.

106 Santa steers 6-10 months averaging 236kg from Winton, northwest QLD returned 715c/kg and will travel to a buyer near Taroom, QLD.

Larger steer lines offered this week included 1140 Beefmaster (US origin breed similar to Droughtmaster) and Beefmaster x Charolais or Angus weaned steers 273kg at 9-12 months from Richmond, northwest Queensland, that sold from 590-601c/kg.

The tail of the young British-type cattle shifted north out of drought-impacted areas of NSW early in the year are still coming to market, before it gets too hot. Offered on Friday were 217 NSW-bred Angus steers and heifers being sold out of Aramac, central western Queensland. The heifer portion 285kg at 12-30 months made 513c/kg, while the backgrounder steer brothers 279kg at 10-18 months made 609c/kg.

Among the heifer offerings on Friday, the 200-280kg entries lifted 21c to average 548c, clearing 92pc of the 1000 offered. The 280-330kg heifers rose 10c to average 535c/kg on a 80pc clearance.

Heifers 330-400kg had the largest offering at 2273 head, clearing 83pc, with prices up 4c to average 520c/kg. Heavy heifers +400kg remained the softest line, clearing just 58pc of the 887 offered, though price firmed 15c to average 509c.

Fifty Angus heifers 6-7 months averaging 231kg from Yundi, SA returned 625c/kg and will travel to a buyer near Mallala, SA.

Further north, 192 Angus feeder heifers 433kg at 19-21 months from Guyra NSW (pictured below) made 521c/kg, while 202 Charolais x Santa/Hereford feeder heifers from the same vendor, 390kg at 14-16 months made 520c/kg.

Breeding females

Breeding females produced mixed results.

Price improvers among offerings large enough to report included:

• NSM Heifers & Calves offered 324 pairs, clearing 83pc, gaining $317 to average $3462
• SM cows and calves offered 274 pairs, clearing 77pc, with prices up $101 to average $3125
• A small offering of 165 PTIC cows cleared 73pc, with prices lifting $125 to average $2507

Breeding female categories losing value included:

• PTIC heifers cleared only 40pc, with prices down $433 on last week to average $1919
• NSM cows & calves cleared 96pc of the offering of 292 pairs, with prices falling $232 to average $2905.

Other categories were too thinly traded to quote.

Highlights included 24 Angus station mated heifers & calves 24 months averaging 531kg from Bathurst, NSW, returning $420/pair, travelling to a buyer near Wollogorang, NSW.

From Waterhouse, TAS, 25 Angus PTIC heifers 23-25 months averaging 438kg returned $2000 and will travel to a buyer near Whitemore, TAS.

New South Wales supplied the largest share of listings with 6326 head with clearance sitting at 82pc. Queensland recorded the strongest regional clearance at 95pc across 327 head, Victoria offered 1426 head at an 88pc clearance.

Source: AuctionsPlus