Feedlot competition was strong at the Pakenham store sale today, with runs of heavier vendor bred cattle selling well and lighter steers exceeding 600 cents a kilogram.
Agents yarded 3300 head at the Victorian Livestock Exchange.
J & A Wright sold a pen of 20 steers, 572kg, for 384 cents a kilogram or $2200 a head, while S Zanella, Vesper, sold a pen of nine weighing 498kg for 421c/kg or $2100.
T Davies, Merricks, sold 16 at 485kg for 432c/kg or $2100, and Mt Ararat sold 18 at 451kg for 432c/kg or $1950.
Cascade Park sold 12 weighing 460kg for 434c/kg or $2000 and a pen of seven, 410kg, for 448c/kg or $1840.
Eagleglen Pastoral was one of the feature lines in the sale, offering nearly 200 head of pure Banquet blood Angus steers and black Simmental/Angus crosses.
The first pen of 16 steers weighing 469kg sold for 471c/kg or $2210 and a pen of 18, 427kg, made 468c/kg or $2000.
A pen of 14 weighing 447kg sold for 472c/kg or $2210 and 12 at 400kg made 467c/kg or $1870.
Eyton on Yarra then offered around 230 head, with its first pen of 20 steers, 415kg, selling for 472c/kg.
A pen of 22 at 390kg made 487c/kg or $1900 and 22, 368kg, sold for 502c/kg or $1850.
The vendor also sold 20 weighing 359kg for 501c/kg or $1800, 22 at 360kg for 500c/kg or $1800, and a pen of 26 at 323kg for 520c/kg or $1680.
Elders Yea auctioneer Jamie Quinlan said it was a quality yarding with a lot of weight.
"All in all a very strong day and a really nice yarding of cattle," he said.
"It's no dearer than anywhere else but it's still very solid.
"There was no cheapening off at all."
Commission buyers bought a couple of loads of cattle for south eastern South Australia, he said, and another load of small cattle was sent to Bathurst.
"Everyone was at play, local agents were there, but on those heavier cattle it was the feedlots that were certainly active," he said.
"There was two or three separate feedlots which were trying to operate on those heavier cattle."
Bindaree sold a pen of 20 weighing 385kg for 472c/kg or $1820 and 24 at 359kg for 479c/kg or $1720.
The vendor's third pen of 18 weighing 330kg made 469c/kg or $1550.
Boyds Road, Flinders, sold 24 at 487kg for 445c/kg or $2170 and JB & AK Vaughan, Shady Creek, sold 14 weighing 437kg for 443c/kg or $1940.
Kanga Downs sold 15, 402kg, for 441c/kg or $1660 and S & B Vagg sold 11 weighing 398kg for 464c/kg or $1850.
Fat Cow Farm, Ellaswood, sold 16 weighing 386kg for 484c/kg or $1870 and 21 at 353kg for 509c/kg or $1800.
The same vendor also sold 17 weighing 360kg for 497c/kg or $1790 and 16 at 299kg for 521c/kg or $1560.
K Rienets sold 21 at 304kg for 549c/kg or $1670.
FJ & MI Templeton sold 20 at 304kg for 555c/kg or $1690 and 13 weighing 267kg for 565c/kg or $1510.
Mr Quinlan said heifers also sold well with some going back to the paddock for breeding.
"Quality's been good all throughout, we hade a couple of good runs of heifers that sold back to the paddock to breed with, making up to near on $2100 for a pen of 400kg heifers," he said.
Eagleglen's run of heifers topped at 520c/kg or $1720 for 24 weighing 359kg, while a pen of 20 at 409kg solf for 488c/kg or $2000.
A pen of 22 weighing 403kg made 483c/kg or $1950 and a pen of 11, 360kg, sold for 513c/kg or $1850.
Eyton on Yarra sold 25 heifers weighing 346kg for 485c/kg or $1680 and a pen of 24, 327kg, for 516c/kg or $1690.
CR Dixon, Koo Wee Rup, sold nine weighing 323kg for 402c/kg or $1630, while Cascade Park sold six at 339kg for 454c/kg or $1540.
Calibre sold a pen of 19 weighing 346kg for 462c/kg or $1600.
Alex Scott & Staff auctioneer David Setches said it was a very good run of vendor bred cattle.
"The condition of the cattle that presented today for the better lines was actually probably on a par to last time, a lot of cattle were in the 400 to 500kg category range," he said.
"The better lines of heifers today seemed to be a real standout throughout the sale.
"It got a bit sticky when you got into the crossy cattle and the secondary lines, it sort of fell away.
"The top end of the cattle was very, very good."
John and Amanda Black sold 68 head which all went to local buyers.
Their pen of 14 weighing 270kg made 603c/kg or $1630 and a pen of 12 heifers weighing 244kg sold for 631c/kg or $1540.
Everitt, Seeley and Bennetts auctioneer Jarrod Bennetts said the prices in some areas were slightly better than expected.
"On some of those mid 400kg cattle, I think they were a little bit dearer than what it's been," he said.
"Our weights were very good, we had steers in the high 500kgs right through to the mid 400kgs and they sold accordingly - very well.
"Well bred little weaners, which there wasn't many down there of good quality - they sold exceptionally well."