Breeder holds mixed feelings as prices rise

Mr Ah Sam and his wife, Tracey, will offer 200 Hereford, Shorthorn and Hereford Shorthorn-cross May/June drop calves next week.

"We've seen a huge lift since the start of January for weaner cattle," he said.

"In some places up to $400 a head.

"It makes you quite nervous but it's still very viable because the bullocks and heavy steers have lifted too. The margins between the weaner steers and how much they're making at the heavier end is still very good."

Mr Ah Sam estimates the heavier steers to weigh close to 400 kilograms, while the heavier heifer calves could weight up to 360kg.

"The cattle look really well for the winter they've had and they've had a lot of supplementary feed which has quietened the stock right down," he said.

"Prior to mid-January we didn't know whether we'd done the right thing hanging onto the calves.

"I'd locked a lot of paddocks up in late winter because we knew it was going to be hard but I think even if it hadn't of rained, we would have had enough feed to carry our calves through to the March sales."

Royalla Shorthorns are used over Mawarra Herefords while the first-crosses are retained by the Ah Sams as breeders, while Nunniong, Valley Vista and Karoonda bulls are used over the first-cross roam cows.

"It's been a tough year because we didn't have an autumn which meant we had to start feeding earlier into the winter and it feels like we've been feeding for 10 months now," Mr Ah Sam said.

"We're headed for one of the best autumns since 2012 because that year we got 146 mils in February and that was the year the calf sales were delayed until April because of the rain, it was too wet.

"So far for February 2020 we've had about 120 millimetres of rain so it meant we've got sub-soil moisture back again and good growth and if we keep getting showers heading into autumn, we'll be very lucky."