Yarded: 3137 Angus steers, avg 357kg
Steers 360-450kg: $1360-$1644, avg 370c
Steers 280-360kg: $1180-$1413, avg 402c
AN Angus-only steer yarding averaging 357kg and 385 cents a kilogram gave Hamilton a flying start to its annual weaner selling campaign.
Supporting buying orders from Tasmania, Gippsland, Western Victoria and southeast South Australia dominated the first day of selling that began Monday with a yarding of 3157 head.
The sale - the first of 10 being held at Hamilton and nearby Casterton over the next fortnight- returned an increased $1390 a head average or about $200 a head more than 12 months ago.
The feature of this year’s Independent agents group black steer sale was the exceptional weight of the overall yarding. The penning averaged 15 kilograms heavier than last year and saw the first 35 pens offer live weights upwards of 380kg, to a top of 441kg.
The market dollar per head top was achieved for the EU-accredited yard of 23 Torbank steers weighed at 435kg. These made 378c/kg liveweight or $1644 a head while Camp Creek sold a yard of 437kg EU-accredited steers at 369c/kg or $1612/head. The best cents per kilogram sale was registered by Athlone South. Its sale price of 433c/kg for a yard of 37 Angus, 283kg returned Roland Cameron and family $1225/head while its best pen of 116 head, 363kg, which was nominated as the best presented realised 387c/kg or $1404/hd.
The nation's largest beef processor, JBS Swift, was the major volume buyer. The global meat trader booked all of its 700-head haul to its Longford, Tasmania account while Thomas Foods purchased a large portion of the EU-accredited drafts for feeding in its South Australian feedlot.
EU-sales on the day averaged 387c/kg which was only a slight premium above the market average.
LMB Linke auctioneer Bernie Grant said a broad range of feeder and restocker buyers have placed a lot of faith in prices going forward.
“It was of interest to note a number of northern NSW operators also attended the market but the extra weight saw them outbid by the local contingent” he said.
Kerr & Co auctioneer Craig Pertzel said the strong performance of the JBS order would underpin the thinking of markets moving forward.
“They obviously see a looming shortage in supply for the months ahead and by taking a pro-active stance provides others with a lot of confidence” he said.