Ballarat cattle sell well despite sweltering conditions

Agents yarded more then 3500 cattle from across central Victoria as strong northerly winds and hot temperatures greeted buyers from across the state.

Heavy and weaner cattle sold to strong demand, maintaining a similar price to the earlier December store sale, agents said.

TB White & Sons livestock agent Xavier Bourke said annual drafts of cattle sold at the final sale of the year contributed to the large yarding.

"The heavy steers sold between 280 and 310 cents a kilogram and we had good support from restockers and then we had some feedlotters poking around on the heavier cattle too," Mr Bourke said.

"The weaner cattle topped at 320c/kg and we saw some good, even steers around that 330-340kg mark and the heavier weaners around 380kg were back to 300c/kg."

South Gippsland and south-east South Australian agents and producers bolstered demand across lines of cattle as the best heifers fetched 270-275c/kg.

HF Richardson & Co principal Will Richardson said he was pleased with how the market performed.

"We really can't complain at the moment because we're getting good money for our fat stock ... they're selling very well and we're replacing them not too bad either," he said.

"The big heavier steers made around 300c/kg and up to 310c/kg in places and then the weaner cattle made anything from 300-320c/kg."

Charles Stewart & Co Ballarat auctioneer Jamie McConachy said the yarding was "outstanding" in terms of quality and numbers.

"You'd swear it was a weaner sale due to the quality, not a fortnightly store sale," he said.

Hot conditions deterred some onlookers from visiting the market, however, agents said competition among most lines of cattle was consistent with previous fortnightly sales.

"The Gippslanders were probably the strength on the heavier end and then the feedlotters stepped up into gear in the mid-range cattle and they put a solid floor in the sale," he said.

"The market was a bit hit and miss as buyers were very selective and that was probably different from the sale a fortnight ago where we had more and more cattle making that 320-325c/kg mark and even though we hit that today, we were only hitting it in parts."

J and S Daly sold 15 Angus steers, 489kg, for $1400 or 286c/kg.

JK Irving sold 16 steers, 322kg, for $1040 or 322c/kg.

AJ Parish sold 16 steers, 412kg, for $1220 or 308c/kg.

S and A Mahar sold 11 steers, 392kg, for $1220 or 311c/kg.

The first pen of Watgania Pastoral heifers, 494kg, sold for $1200 or 242c/kg.

Patawilya sold 16 heifers, 338kg, for $985 or 291c/kg.

AR and W Gellie sold 13 heifers, 393kg, for $1120 or 284c/kg.