The first Western District weaner sale kicked off at a cracking pace today, outdoing last year’s prices by more than 100 cents per kilogram for young black cattle.
The Hamilton independent agents sale yarded 2750 predominantly black steers and attracted lively buyers from Queensland and NSW following widespread rain in the past fortnight.
This being the first of the 2016 weaner sales for Victoria, producers, agents and buyers were all talking about how prices would compare to 2015 sales.
The 100c/kg price jump was celebrated with cattle estimated to be 20 to 30kg higher than last year’s av yarded weights.
“With the shortage of cattle in Victoria, (prices) were bound to go up,” Kerr & Co principals Michael Kerr said.
EU accredited steers sold 12-15c/kg lwt premium over similar non-accredited steers.
While there was some local competition for these, the strongest bids came from Thomas Foods International buyer Roger Stanton.
Mr Stanton paid mostly between 320-333c/kg with some other buyers paying up to 342c/kg.
Lighter weight steers sold to a top of 353c/kg, which put dollar values mostly over $1000 per head.
Heavier steers, to 435kg, sold from $1200-$1330, and most other steers ranged between $950-$1200.
