EYEBROWS were raised and a muffled buzz of excitement swept the Kyneton saleyards yesterday when a useful pen of 350-kilogram Angus steer weaners made the startling money of $825 a head.
Spinning calculators out to 235 cents/kg liveweight, it was obvious to all that the buyer of the pen of 20 was not just an average Joe Blow restocker but a major lotfeeder keen to build a load from a rather small yarding of just 450 head that contained two or three nice pens of cattle.
The buyer of the line was Teys' Charlton feedlot while the seller and breeder of the pen, Hugh Dettman, Greens Hill, said he was pleased to see his cattle gone because the season locally in the Kyneton district had rapidly deteriorated.
A second yard of the Dettman Pertangus-blood weaners - weighing 299kg - made $745 a head or 249c/kg lwt while J Solomons, Kyneton, sold a yard of 11 Angus, 322kg, that also went on the Teys truck at $745 a head or 231c/kg lwt.
Earlier in the sale a pen of 510kg Angus grown steers, offered by Barker and Wall, Kyneton, made $940 a head, also sold to Teys, while feedlot booked 10 Angus steers, 471kg sold by vendor Upjohn at $890.
Thereafter the steer sale was a collection of small mixed lots - barely conducive to big-order buying.
Landmark Dwyer principal Greg Dwyer said buyer reaction was typical of a supply-and-demand situation in which sellers had the upper hand.
"There were numerous strong orders wanted but the numbers were not here to accommodate them," Mr Dwyer said.
Dean Coxon, Elders, said while the sale results had exceeded expectations, prices had only fallen into line with those of other selling centres.
"It shows the confidence surrounding the industry," Mr Coxon said.
"And in particular it highlights the players who want to remain involved, and in the case of Teys it was their appearance at the Kyneton saleyards," he said.
The sale of heifers also carried the same enthusiasm as prices rose sharply to be significantly higher than at the previous Kyneton sale.
A pen of Hereford grown heifers, 395kg, chased by a restocker again went on the Teys truck, priced at $750 or 189c/kg lwt.
This sale set to the tone for a strong heifer market pitched at rates of 185-200c/kg lwt, including a yard of the Dettman Angus heifers, 334kg, that made $620 and were sold to an opportunity local feeder.
A second pen of Dettman Angus heifers, 299kg, made $600, while Pepper Guinea sold 353kg Angus heifers at $670.
Other pens of younger and lighter heifers made $540-$580 and included some sales that realised more than 200c/kg lwt.
Kyneton will conduct its annual beef weaner sale on Wednesday January 21.
Murray Arnel
Stock store analyst for Stock & Land.
Stock store analyst for Stock & Land.
