Bidding for cattle across all categories was tough going at Casterton’s spring sale on Thursday.
Prices for steers struggled to get passed the 240 cents a kilogram mark, with only a selected few hitting prices beyond.
The Cameron family, ‘Wyandra’, Coleraine, were one of the lucky few, whose lead draft of EU 313-kilogram steers made $900 a head, or 287c/kg, selling to a local restocker.
The Camerons’ second pen, 260kg, made $700/head, or 270c/kg.
Landmark auctioneer Rick Smith said the sale opened with heavier steers, around the 400-450kg range.
Mr Smith said these sold between 200-231c/kg, to very limited competition.
“There was only local feedlot and restrocker interest from South Australia on select pens of mainly EU cattle,” he said.
But once the heavier steers were sold, momentum continued to flatten.
“Good pen after good pen, weighing from 320-380kg, continuously sold from 220-240c/kg, with the odd sale exceeding this due to some interest from a Tasmanian restocker,” he said.
He said sales of light steers, 220-280kg, were erratic at times, with prices fluctuating from a sale high of 289c/kg, to as low as 180c/kg.
This resulted in some pens being passed-in.
Other steer sales included ‘Baroona’, who sold nine, 450kg, at $1060/head, or 235c/kg, and another pen of 11, 350kg, at $850/head, or 242c/kg.
‘Ulonga’ sold 10 steers, 447kg, at $1050/head, or 234c/kg, while ‘Banemore’ sold 10, 413kg, at $885/head, or 214c/kg, and a second pen of nine, 356kg, at $785/head, or 220c/kg.
‘Wando Ponds’ sold nine, 397kg, at $930/head, or 234c/kg, and a second pen of seven, 332kg, at $755/head, or 227c/kg.
‘Whitnell’ sold 16, 365kg, at $910/head, or 249c/kg, while ‘Fairview’ sold 14, 375kg, at $750/head, or 200c/kg.
Heifer sales continued to follow recent store sale trends, with prices between 190-233c/kg achieved, but the majority were around the 200-210c/kg mark.
It was again the Cameron family who topped the heifer sales, with a pen of 18 Angus EU heifers, 300kg, making $700/head, or 233c/kg, selling to Tasmania.
Other heifer sales included that of ‘Buckley Swamp’, who sold 14, 508kg, at $870/head, or 170c/kg, ‘Faenza’, who sold 10, 272kg, at $555/head, or 204c/kg, and ‘Welbanite’, who sold 15, 287kg, for $475/head, or 165c/kg.
Apart from sales to Tasmania, most cattle went to areas within a 70-kilometre radius of Casterton, including South-East South Australia.