Bairnsdale
Yarding 2300
Steers to $1460
Heifers to $1090
Cows and calves to $1500
WELL bred beef cattle in ideal store condition attracted interstate buyers to Bairnsdale’s sale on Friday.
Store markets across Gippsland have been attracting buyers who want cattle in store condition rather than the forward-store condition on offer in other parts of Victoria. It is a basic cents-per-kilogram calculation – store condition cattle offer a better return, according to many who target them to fatten on pasture.
At Bairnsdale on Friday, there were plenty of well bred cattle on offer – which saw a lot of competition between buyers for Landmark International export orders, grass- finishers at Pakenham, Dubbo and King Island and feedlots in Victoria, NSW and South Australia.
Bombala cattle led the sale, with Donna Tupper-Lucas’s Hereford and black baldy steers selling to a top of $1460, average $1160.
Prices eased slightly on older steers. Nick Sarjent, Orbost, sold 20 month-old Angus steers, 544kg, at $1425.
T&J Sandy, Canni Creek, sold two pens of 16 month-old Angus steers, 464kg, to a top of $1410, av $1380.
AJ&KM Geehman, Ensay, sold 11 Hereford steers, 423kg, at $1310 each. This pen was a taster for what the vendors send to the High Country Calf Sales in a few weeks. The Baillieu family, Yarram Park, sent in a line of 100 14-18 month-old Hereford steers and 70 heifers, on agistment in East Gippsland. Steers, 470kg, sold to $1275, av $1161. Heifers, 406kg, sold to $950, av $878.
D Hurley, Dargo sold two pens of Angus steers, 422kg, to $1250, average $1205. Tim Woodgate, Buchan, sold a pen of 16 Hereford steers, 410kg, at $1235.
Smith Graziers, Tambo Crossing, sent in two pens of 16-17 month-old Hereford steers, 380kg, to a top of $1200, av $1120. Among the weaner cattle, Neville Beasley, Devlin Park, sent in his annual draft of nine month-old Angus weaner steers, that sold to a top of $1250 for a pen of 22, 397kg lwt. The av price across the line of 238 head was $1129 each.
Two pens of 10-11 month-old Hereford steers, vendor Ethel and Eric Jamieson, Jambro Pastoral, Broadlands, sold to $1280 for a pen of 23 head, 364kg, Mawarra blood.
There was a lot of competition for the two lanes of heifers on offer, especially between Jimmy Matthews buying for Landmark International and Garrison’s feedlot; Duncan Brown buying for grass- finishers in NSW; and Graeme Ward, buying for SA’s Ogilvie Group feedlot.
There were few cows and calves on offer. A pair with Charolais calves at-foot, vendor J O’Callaghan, Nicholson, sold at $1500.