Struggling through a poor winter, spring, summer, and now autumn, has only got harder for producers in East Gippsland.
Cold nights and chilly winds has made a big difference on the cattle, evidenced in the fortnightly Bairnsdale store cattle sale, Friday.
Quality was plainer over all classes of cattle offered at Bairnsdale, Friday, in a smaller offering of 1800 head.
Partly due to the change in condition of the cattle, but also the current trends, prices were generally cheaper compared to two weeks ago.
Pride of the market was someones pet bullock, which came in with some of the producers younger cattle. Weighing in at a stunning 990 kilograms, he topped the sale making $2000.
Best of the yearling steers was D&J Adams, Orbost, selling 11 Angus steers, 497kgs, for $1380. these were followed very closely by a pen of 13 Hereford steers, 490kgs, of Melrose Hereford’s, which sold for $1350.
These prices were unchanged, however, if steers were a little older, potentially having four or more teeth, a bit plain, not quite as well bred, or just not suiting the buyers, then they were cheaper.
P&W Kinsella sold 15 Angus-Hereford and Hereford steers from $1060-$1180, all in the low 200c/kg lwt range. Cameron and Crisp sold 9 Hereford steers for $1220, which was a slightly better sale.
Some very good sales were seen during the sale, but these were also at slightly cheaper rates. Cameron Bros, Cann River, sold their Charolais cross steers, as the season will not allow them to be finished at home. These calves would normally top any vealer sale later in the year, but they still sold very well here.
Weighing in at 295kgs, these 24 steers sold for $900. Romano Produce sold 42 good quality Angus steers from $720-$860, prices that were 20-40c/kg cheaper than two weeks ago. They were by no means the only ones. Bayrook Pastoral Co, Gelantipy, sold 25 Hereford steers from $590-$770.
Many of the steers and heifers sold at Bairnsdale, Friday, were being sold early as the cold has set in and there is no chance of the producers being able to hold them any longer.
Many steers sold between $390 & $800. LH and JL Reed, Delegate, was one of the producers affected. Selling 51 younger steers at the above prices, saw the top pen sell quite well, but the youngest steers were cheaper, as were most others on the day.
There will be few heifers to breed from, or to sell as fat later in the year, as many were purchased for grain feeding. Several pens of the good quality younger Angus heifer calves were potentially purchased for future live export orders.
A few pens of yearling heifers sold reasonably well with J and J Coates selling 17 Angus-Hereford, 385kgs, for $1040, and B Parisotto, 10 Angus heifers, 360kgs, for $940. From there on it went downhill.
Glenshiel Past Co, Butchers Ridge, had a reasonable sale of their 39 Charolais cross heifers, making from $725-$800. Later in the sale, Cameron Bros sold their Charolais heifers for $765. All of these Charolais heifers will be grain fed. Plenty of well bred heifer calves sold between $370 & $850, but some sales of plain heifers were noted down to $250.
Following the heifers were a few pens of cows and calves. The Estate of S Joiner sold 9 Angus cows and calves for the top price of $1250 with most selling between $740 & $1180.
Producers were selling females, some 2nd calving heifers and a few cows, that had had the opportunity with bulls. These were reasonable cattle, but in plainer condition, and with a long gestation period, they sold from $500-$700.