Hamilton store sale feature many steers over 400kg, as prices stay firm

Agents yarded about 900 cattle with a significant run of heavier steers at the beginning of the sale, which sold slightly dearer.

Vendor Tooronga yarded 150 cattle themselves, with many steers by them easily surpassing 500kg.

One pen of 22 Angus steers from Tooronga weighing 503kg was sold for 428 cents per kilogram or $2152 a head, while three pens of Angus/Hereford-cross steers from the same vendor did well.

The heaviest of those three weighed 531kg and was sold for 420c/kg or $2226.

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Roseneath North also did well on the heavier side of things, with a pen of 13 Angus steers, 531kg, sold for 414c/kg or $2198.

J & J Kelly stock agent Jack Kelly said the large contingent of heavier cattle was due to many sellers waiting for a while as it was "tough enough to do something over the last six weeks," he said.

"There has been a lot of cattle out and about and this is the next group, but it was good to see a big number of feedlots taking advantage of that here."

"That competition went right through to the heifers which topped into the high three dollar mark."

Mr Kelly said a good local contingent of agents supported the sale as well, with many travelling agents getting a bit ahead of larger sales to be held at Ballarat and Mount Gambier this week.

"It probably was our first sale away from much of the weaner sales, and that support from the local agents really helped the yarding sale keep competitive," he said

"It was good to see those bigger steers, with some of them 10 to 15 cents dearer."

As the sale continued, prices through the second runs of cattle stayed firm compared to other recent store sales throughout Victoria, but prices did not reach the heights in HRVX's November store sale, which were around 500c/kg.

Cattle between 330-400kg also held up well, averaging about 400c/kg, with Tooronga doing well in that range too, with one pen of eight Angus-cross steers from them, 385kg, selling for 426c/kg or $1640.

Napier sold a pen of 11 Angus-cross grown steers, 367kg, for 446c/kg or $1636.

There was a wider variety of breeds outside of black cattle, with good quality runs of Herefords on offer, including a pen from South Barnoolut of 11 Poll Hereford grown steers, 432kg, sold for 408c/kg or $1762.

Annendale sold 11 Red Angus grown steers, 385kg, for 450c/kg or $1732.

Many weaner steers on offer kept on similar figures seen across feature sales throughout January, with B F Martin selling 12 Angus weaner steers, 399kg, for 452c/kg or $1806.

Cattle under 330kg were few and far between, but a pen from vendor Kybrooka offering 17 Angus-cross steers, 296kg, sold for 484c/kg or $1432.

Heifers averaged around 365c/kg but there were some good performers on the day for that run, with Amaroo selling 24 Angus heifers, 413kg, for 380c/kg or $1569.

Before the sale, agents held a special auction of equipment and semen straws from Lawson Romulus R1217 and Boonaroo Genius Q63 to raise funds for the Male Bag Foundation which aims to assist men with prostate cancer in accessing medical equipment and procedures.

Angus PTIC heifers were also offered as part of the charity auction, with two sold by Athlone South for $3500.

Former North Melbourne AFL player and Hawthorn coach Donald McDonald spoke about the charity as well as some stories from his playing days in HRLX's old selling arena.