Part of a line of 200 Angus x weaner steers account Wirribilla Farms at Walcha, EU-accredited weighing 254kg at 6-8 months, which made 375c or $950 a head on Friday

CATTLE numbers offered on the AuctionsPlus online marketing platform last week were up 13 percent to 10,107 head, with steers making up almost half of the numbers across all sales while breeder numbers contracted.

Feedlot buyers were very active in Friday’s sale, while restockers were buying more cautiously on the back of generally dry conditions in eastern states.

Prices were generally softer than last week for young cattle, more significantly for steers than heifers, though breeder prices were mostly steady.

Highlights among young cattle sales in southern states included a line of 200 Angus cross weaner steers account Wirribilla Farms at Walcha, EU-accredited weighing 254kg at 6-8 months, making 375c or $950 a head (click this link to view a short pre-sale video).

A line of 240 Te Mania blood Angus backgrounder heifers at Walgett, 222kg at 7-8 months, made 397c or $880, while their 120 steer brothers 247kg made $965.

Limousin cross steers at Orange weighing 250kg made 362c or $905 on Friday; and Lawsons-blood Angus heifers in Victoria weighing 151kg made 434c or $665.

In specialised lines in Friday’s sale, a line of 275kg Wagyu/Angus steers sold for 593c or $1630.

In Queensland, 120 Droughtmaster steers at Jericho weighing 241kg at 7-11 months sold for 370c or $895, while their heifer siblings averaging 224kg made$740; a line of 120 crossbred heifers at Alpha weighing 254kg at 8-11 months made 314c or $800; and 78 crossbred feeder steers at Goondiwindi,  473kg at 15-22 months, sold for 318c or $1505.

In a breakdown of young cattle in Friday’s sale, by weight:

• Steers less than 250kg made 353c to 397c to average 370c, easing 30c; while heifers in the same weight range sold across a broad price range of 293c to 435c to average 359c, up 9c
• Steers 250-300kg sold from 312c to 380c averaging 350c, back 10c; while heifers sold from 301-328c to average 314c, up 4c
• Steers 300-350kg made 293c to 350c to average 325c, easing by 15c; while heifers made 284c to 322c averaging 304c, easing 6c
• Steers over 350kg sold from 266-318c averaging 292c, back 32c; while heifers in the same weight range made 307c to 316c to average 310c, back 4c.

In female lines offered on Friday, PTIC first-calf heifers sold from $1310 to $1550, with the top for Simmental/Angus heifers in Victoria.

Young cows made $1450 to $1650, the top price again for the Simmental/Angus females. Mixed age lines made $1100 to $1400 to average $1203.

Cow and calf sales saw young females make from $1105 to $1840, and a top price of $1960 for the day for five-year-old Hereford cows with Hereford calves and rejoined out of Oberon, NSW. Mixed age lines of cow/calf units varied in price from $1060 top $1600.

Click here to access a full summary of Friday’s AuctionsPlus sale.

Upcoming sales to watch:

Jeogla Station near Armidale will hold its annual interfaced production sale on March 16, from 1pm Sydney time. On offer are  1605 mostly weaners and yearlings in 61 lots, including about 170 PTIC heifers. Quality genetics on offer are Shorthorn, Angus and Beefmaker based, all EU accredited.

Contacts: Ben Hiscox (Bob Jamieson Agencies) 0429 669 313; Simon Raffery (Landmark Armidale) 0427 110 046.

Click here to view of video of the Angus PTIC heifer offering:

Click here to view of video of the Shorthorn cross EU accredited weaned steer offering