Supplied: RLX

LOCAL support appears to be underpinning the latest southern weaner sales with plenty of feed on the ground after some good rain last Spring.

The first round of sales have wrapped up in the Western Districts of Victoria, with many remarking on the good weights of the cattle and strong demand from the local area.

Heifers have evidently been a stand and have sold well above expectations at Victoria’s Hamilton and Casterton weaner sales and South Australia’s Narracoorte sales last week.

Stock Agent Guy Robertson from TDC said heifers sold 40 cents above expectations due to restocker demand.

“People were thinking 420-460 cents a kilogram but most heifers were 460 to 500 cents a kilo and in some cases 520 cents, so they were the highlight of the last 10 days,” he said.

“There was an expectation that producers would not look to restock and instead would focus on short term trade to get some cash flow happening before they go into a restocking phase, so not many people were expecting heifers to go back out to get joined but a lot were.

“There was a lot more local support in western Victoria, just with the amount of grass and dry feed leftover from spring, so a lot more cattle have stayed locally than we have seen for a few years.”

Mr Robertson said steers were largely in line with price expectations with Angus steers selling between 500-550 cents a kilo and coloured steers making 470-485 cents a kilo.

The weight in the cattle was another surprise with the majority of cattle averaging 370-410kg, which is in line with the average weights in previous years despite the tough start to the season for the cattle.

“At the start of August the season was pretty tough, so these cattle had a rough first 5 months, but the weight gain in the last 3 months has been exceptional,” Mr Robertson said.

“I don’t think anyone could have guessed the cattle would reach average weights and sell for what they did at the start of August last year, so it’s been great to see the results we’ve had.”

Numbers down at Naracoorte

Agents at Naracoorte in South Australia are preparing for two more weaner sales this week, with a 3400 head lined up for the steer sale tomorrow and 1650 heifers on Friday.

Naracoorte-based SAL livestock manager Will Nolan said numbers were down on previous years.

“It is a little bit unknown as the why that is, a lack of cows, a lack of calves or people trying to get some more weight on those lighter calves,” Mr Nolan said.

“Locally, we still have good dry feed that has not been affected by rain yet so the quality of the feed is pretty good. It is similar if you drive through the Western Districts of Victoria.

“In a lot of cases, there is no mad rush to sell lighter cattle. I’d say there is a hope that there might be some rain in those drier areas of New South Wales and they can send some heavier cattle there later in the year.”

Mr Nolan said the market was 100c stronger than last year, with local buying interest underpinning all the demand.

“I have heard there are a few buyers that have gone through all those sales in the Western Districts and missed out on the numbers they were looking for.

“But I think the market has been strong, it could have been stronger if there was some rain in those areas of NSW where they take bigger lines of cattle.”

• After being postponed due to fires, the Yea weaner sale is being transferred to Barnawartha next Thursday.