Confidence and interest from buyers was very much in vouge at WVLX Mortlake's September store sale on Thursday, but prices either kept firm or slightly dearer than the last sale.
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Agents yarded nearly 4500 cattle, which was up from the projected 3500 earlier in the week, as some vendors decided to rush late cattle into the saleyard to take advantage of a upward trend in prices.
Lighter cattle were the big performers of the day, with weaner steers between 300 to 400 kilograms regularly selling for 630 cents per kilogram and higher.
Pens of cattle that were even lighter than that range were regularly pushing past 700c/kg, with two pens of weaner Angus steers sold by Moanariki being a highlight.
A pen from that vendor of 32 weaner Angus steers, 228kg, and another pen of 25 weaner Angus steers, 192kg were sold for 848c/kg for each pen, or $1941 and $1629 a head respectively.
Grown heifers and steers also averaged around the mid-500c/kg range, and medium weight steers sold up to 15c/kg dearer, while very light weaner steers were alightly cheaper than last month's sale.
Most weaner steers went all across the state to Gippsland, and south of Mortlake as far as Warrnambool while a few pens headed to South Australian buyers.
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Weaner heifers were also slightly stronger by 10-15c/kg while grown heifers were 10c/kg dearer across the board than last sale.
A lot of weaner heifers on offer were bought to join, with a couple of strong bidders from Gippsland, the Geelong area and another one from the north.
Nutrien Warrnambool auctioneer Josh McDonald said prices, particularly for lighter cattle, will hopefully continue to head in a positive direction from last month's buoyant sale, with buyer interest increasing with plenty of feed spurring on many feedlotters to snap up heavier cattle too.
"It's been a solid day, with heavy cattle being very similar to last month, if not only slightly dearer, but it's the lighter cattle here that are getting a lot more competition," he said.
"If you yarded very little cattle today they were very much sought after, and the medium to heavy weight weaner cattle, like the 300 to 400 kgs steers had sold with a fair increase as well."
He also noted that local interest was trending upwards as well.
"We are that close to good a spring right now that local competition is starting to show here at Mortlake, which we hadn't seen for the last couple of months.
"Weather is improving here too, so confidence is getting back to a good level."
Mr McDonald said there was a lot of local buyer interest in the lighter cattle on offer which drove up prices, but "there is still some interest from the north."
Vendor Henry Veenstra, Wattle Lane, Simpson, who sold 13 Speckle Park steers, 411kg, for 552c/kg or $2268, said the weight factor for him was why he was selling cattle.
"It seems to be the proper weight to sell them at right now, where we can get the most for it," he said.
"We generally also sell before summer comes along before our pasture dies off and at that time, we will feed them a little bit extra."
Mr Veenstra, who is processing from running a dairy operation to beef, said things had been a little wet throughout Simpson but was hopefully keen with the new season coming around.
"Good prices are here at the moment and the foot and mouth scares we have seen a few months ago have diminished a little bit now," he said.
"The beef have been giving us a bit more freedom and milking a herd is generally checking them twice a day, while a beef herd is only a once a day thing too."
The September Mortlake sale will be the last monthly sale for 2022, with the store sale heading back to a twice-a-month arrangement from October.
Donley sold 12 Angus/Simmental steers, 452kg, for 592c/kg or $2681.
Bimberdeen sold 32 Angus steers, 568kg, for 561c/kg or $3187 and another pen of 13 Angus steers, 610kg for 544c/kg or $3320.
Edgewood sold 23 Angus steers, 373kg, for 648c/kg or $2421.
TA & DE Richardson sold a pen of 12 Angus steers, 302kg, for 712c/kg or $2156 and another pen of 10 steers, 359kg, for 668c/kg or $2398.
RFB Kelly sold 32 Hereford steers, 245kg, for 754c/kg or $1854 and 22 weaner heifers, 242kg, for 700c/kg or $1692.
Kilkenny sold 36 Angus steers, 321kg, for 734c/kg or $2356.
Garrangreena sold a pen of 19 Angus steers, 291kg, for 746c/kg or $2177 and another pen of 14 Angus steers, 251kg, for 788c/kg or $1981.
Drysdale sold a pen of 66 Angus steers, 516kg, for 594c/kg or $3066 and another large pen of 20 Angus steers, 565kg, for 568c/kg or $3212.
The Gypsy Valley Trust offered a significant run of both Angus and Hereford steers, with the best pens being one lot of 19 Angus steers, 246kg, sold for 752c/kg or $1852 and another lot of 18 Angus steers, 203kg, sold for 804c/kg.
Ellingerrin sold 33 Angus steers, 532kg, for 590c/kg or $3143.
Dixie Park Farm Trust sold 16 Angus heifers, 454kg, for 536c/kg or $2435
Furneaux had a run of grown steers, with one of the best-priced pens offering 15 Angus heifers, 465kg, for 510c/kg or $2449.
There were a large amount of cows and calves on offer as well, with Pinegrove Trust selling 9 Angus cows and calves, 555kg for $4000
Bungarna sold 17 Angus cows and calves, with two extra calves, 630kg, for $3800.
AM & AM Evans sold three Angus-cross cows and calves and three Speckle Park calves for $4500.
The Pines sold 15 Speckle Park-cross cows and calves for $3550.
