Northern NSW restockers dominated the first two lanes of store cattle at Bairnsdale on Friday.
Agents yarded about 3800 cattle at the East Gippsland Livestock Exchange where lightweight vendor-bred calves sold to 800 cents a kilogram in the opening minutes of the market.
One livestock agent, representing a handful of restocking clients in northern NSW, bought about 300 cattle in the first 25 pens of the sale.
The sale included two feature runs of vendor-bred cattle consigned by Shaun and Maria Beasley, Emu Park, Lindenow South, and Mack and Robyn Stagg, Tambo Crossing.
READ MORE:
The Staggs sold 252 mixed-sex Angus calves, 8-10 months, including 27 steers, 397kg, for $2500 a head or 629c/kg, 26 streets, 376kg, for $2460 or 654c/kg, and 36 steers, 369kg, for $2360 or 639c/kg
They also sold 28 heifers, 345kg, for $1990 or 576c/kg, 20 heifers, 319kg, for $1850 or 579c/kg and 36 heifers, 285kg, for $1800 or 631c/kg..
The Beasleys sold 196 Angus, eight to nine months, including 27 steers, 364kg, for $2450 or 673c/kg, 25 steers, 344kg, for $2370 or 688c/kg, 31 steers, 343kg, for $2300 or 670c/kg, and the lightest pen of 27 steers, 241kg, for $1940 or 804c/kg.
Nutrien East Gippsland Livestock manager Brad Obst said the first two feature lines sold during the sale would likely be destined for backgrounding operations down track.
"It's a pretty good story for these two families because they've sold their cattle on the sale day for over 20 years now," Mr Obst said.
"They both buy very similar bulls and run a very similar operation and both offer European Union-accredited cattle which put a premium on both lines of cattle."
Mr Obst said local restocking was not as noticeable compared to recent fortnightly sales in East Gippsland.
"The size of the yarding and the size of the numbers in the pens probably restricted local restockers but there's still plenty of interest there," he said.
Another feature line was consigned by the Ingram family of Bonang who sold 134 Angus and Black Baldy steers, nine to 13 months to average $2415.
The draft included 11 steers, 515kg, which made $2770 or 537c/kg, 15 steers, 432kg, for $2490 or 576c/kg, and 22 steers, 408kg, for $2460 or 602c/kg.
Bill Wyndham & Co livestock manager Colin Jones said the quality of the yarding vastly improved compared to earlier sales in recent weeks.
"We had northern competition, feedlots and even South Gippsland who were probably not as strong as they were at other sales, but they were still buying a few," he said.
"Once you got off the top end of the heifers with a bit of weight, they might have eased slightly but overall cattle and prices were very strong."
Rosalie and Dennis Stringer, Forge Creek, sold the first pen of the sale with 20 vendor-bred steers, 520kg, for $3050 or 586c/kg.
R & E O'Hara sold 19 steers, 540kg, for $3070 or 568c/kg.
JH & AM Cameron sold 15 steers, 520kg, for $3050 or 586c/kg and 14 steers, 505kg, for $2900 or 574c/kg.
Amberley Park sold 13 steers, 402kg, for $2530 or 629c/kg and 34 steers, 334kg, for $2290 or 685c/kg.
Geoff and Lyn Johnston, Walpa, sold 18 Hereford steers, 602kg, for $3080 or 511c/kg.
Nambrok Station sold 11 steers, 375kg, for $2220 or 592c/kg, 25 steers, 322kg, for $2180 or 677c/kg and 25 steers, 271kg, for $2050 or 756c/kg.
Kevin and Mandy Dean, Tambo Crossing, sold 61 steers, eight to nine months, including 30 steers, 296kg, for $2090.
Nicole and Ken White, White Acres, Hillside, sold 17 steers, 437kg, for $2520, 19 steers, 408kg, for $2480 and 19 steers, 357kg, for $2130 or 596c/kg.
In the heifers, KP Hurley sold 18 heifers, 443kg, for $2640 or 595c/kg and 16 heifers, 412kg, for $2450 or 594c/kg.
Creighton Grange Angus sold 18 heifers, 405kg, for $2630 or 649c/kg.
DA Cameron sold 22 heifers, 345kg, for $2210 or 640c/kg and 18 heifers, 335kg, for $2050 or 611c/kg.
Glenshiel Pasotral sold 12 Charolais heifers, 459kg, for $2600 or 566c/kg and 19 heifers, 409kg, for $2430 or 594c/kg.
Want daily highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the Stock & Land newsletter below.