QUALITY WAS THE KEY at Pakenham, in another large yarding of 2951 cattle.
First impressions when walking into the VLE’s Pakenham selling complex, was the number of well bred, good quality cattle, of all weights and ages, and the noise.
A good percentage of the young cattle had not been weaned, and were calling for their mothers.
Potential buyers were put on notice in the first sale of the day, where Covino Farms, Longford, sold a line of 100 vendor bred Angus steers, 8-9 months, by Harris blood.
These Angus steers weighed between 256 and 301 kilograms liveweight, and sold from $866 to $1000, or 332 to 343 cents per kilogram.
Competition carried through to the to the last agent, where a draft of the well known Camoola, Beveridge, Angus steers were offered.
Selling 83 Angus steers, Lawsons and Anvil blood, that weighed from 250 to 325kgs, very strong competition saw these sell between $880 and $1110, equaling 341 to 364c/kg lwt.
Not all cattle sold at these very high levels, however, most well bred cattle sold at firm to dearer rates with some Angus steers being $30-$50 dearer.
While most of the cattle were supplied from West, Central, and South Gippsland, this market, some were consigned from further afield.
Competition was solid and included feedlots and processors among a large crowd of producers and agents from West and South Gippsland.
Buyers of feeder steers clashed with bullock fatteners, but only to a limit. Most of the steers weighing over 520kgs returned to the paddock, with the exception of some for grain feeding close to Tamworth.
Norton Pastoral Co, Cardinia, sold 58 Angus steers, 553-566kgs, from $1600 to $1640.
Prices for these heavier steers ranged between $1390 and $1670. Yearling steers for grain feeding sold mostly from $1150, for steers 390kgs, and up to $1430 for steers to 496kgs lwt. Many of these steers sold at firm rates.
B Reid, Clematis, sold 58 Angus steers, 422-476kgs, which were in plain condition, from $1090 to $1380. Buxton Grove, Bunyip north, sold 41 Hereford-Angus steers, 369-383kgs, from $1190 to $1220, and these two sales show clearly the difference between breeding and quality.
Some excellent sales were noted of younger steers that had been weaned, and well looked after. Whispering Pines Estate, Clyde North, sold Charolais steers from $1040 to $1210, and Angus steers to $1185, which may have been the highest priced weaners.
Throughout the whole yarding there was plenty of lightweight steers. many of these sold well making mostly from $600 to $850.
Friesian steers were noted for their absence in the sale, although there was more than 70 penned in one section of the market. Most of these were of good weight, age and quality, and sold to dearer trends, from $490 to $965.
Similar to the steers, but smaller in number, was the mixed offering of heifers. This included some heavier yearling heifers, which saw a single heifer top the sale at $1250, and pen of 25 Angus heifers of Narjo P/L, Catani, sold for $1200.
Whispering Pines Estate sold 20 Charolais heifers from $970 to $1010, which were purchased for grain feeding. Feedlots and grass fatteners played a big part in dearer price trends for heavier heifers.
Demand was a lot stronger for most heifers, and this saw many young heifers sell from $500 to $750, an improvement of $100 or more compared to two weeks ago.
Most of the cows and calves offered were older cows, and most were in plain condition. The best sale was for Angus cows of P Brand, Stradbroke, who sold 2 cows with 4 calves at foot, for $1410.
Most cows and calves sold between $900 and $1330, the later being for 8 old Angus cows with good quality calves at foot.
A small selection of joined females sold from $970 to $1200, the later being first cross Angus-Friesian heifers, in calf to a Limousin bull.
