High-quality cattle at Leongatha's store sale on Friday encouraged plenty of bidding, as feedlots continued their dominance buying up stock across Gippsland markets.
Agents yarded just under 3700 cattle where plenty of the feature pens exceeded 500 kilograms in average weight.
The sale was built around a dominant line of cattle from Darriman vendor Kuch Grazing, who yarded nearly 200 head.
Nutrien auctioneer Brian McCormack said the sale was up on quality with buyers very keen on the cattle with weight.
"The sale was set up by those 200 Euro steers from the Kuch family, which all ranged from about 500-550 kilograms," he said.
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"Once you get a line up of those cattle, you can always build around it, and that is what we've done today.
"It's resulted in an exceptional run of cattle, especially for this time of year."
One of the heavier pens from the run of European Union-accredited cattle from Kuch Grazing was a pen of 23 Angus steers, 553kg, which sold for $2320 a head or 419 cents a kilogram, while a total of 57 Angus steers across three pens of 19 cattle each, averaging 529-535kg, sold for $2230 or 416-421c/kg.
Mr McCormack said while the region had received a bit of rain in the last few weeks, the season was cooling off and cattle were holding their weight.
"Possibly in a couple of weeks' time, if we could get a bit of rain and colder nights, we will see a bit of a drop in that weight from where they are," he said.
He said major lines of cattle sold about 20c/kg dearer "and more in some places" across the sale.
"You were looking at 380-390c/kg for feeder-type cattle, while today you'd be out to 401-415c/kg," he said.
"Once you get a lineup of those cattle, you can always build around it, and that is what we've done today.
"It's resulted in an exceptional run of cattle, especially for this time of year," he said.
One of the heavier offerings from the run of EU cattle from Kuch Grazing was a pen of 23 Angus steers, 553kg, which sold for $2320 a head or 419 cents per kilogram while a total of 57 Angus steers across three pens of 19 cattle each, averaging 529-535kg, sold for $2230 or 416-421c/kg.
Mr McCormack said while the region had a bit of rain in the last few weeks, the season is cooling off and cattle are holding their weight.
"Possibly in a couple of weeks' time, if we could get a bit of rain and nights get colder, we will see a bit of a dropping that weight from where they are,"
Mr McCormack said that major lines of cattle sold about 20 cents per kilogram dearer "and more in some places" across the sale on Friday compared to the Leongatha store sale held earlier in April.
"Much of this was spurred on from more competition which made things stronger through the market."
Feedlots were prominent throughout the day from heavier steers through to lighter cattle at about 350kg, encouraged by the decision to put away cattle for use at a later date.
"That type of buying isn't something that has really been happening recently, but it sets up a floor at the bottom end of the job, which is always good," Mr McCormack said.
G Terranova, Mirboo North, sold 15 Angus steers, 639kg, for $2400 or 414c/kg.
JW & BJ Dunbar, Traralgon East, sold 21 Angus steers, 541kg, for $2240 or 414c/kg
Stonewarra, Koonwarra, sold 20 Angus steers, 523kg, for $2230 or 426c/kg.
P & T Harris, Wooreen, sold 17 Angus steers, 544kg, for $2280 or 419c/kg.
Gary Anthony, Meeniyan, sold 26 Hereford steers, 443kg, for $1660 or 374c/kg.
Munro vendors MJ & GM Lee offered one of the heavier pens of the day, selling 10 Angus steers, 602kg, for $2160 or 358c/kg, while J Frith sold 12 Black Baldy steers, 664kg, for $2400 or 361c/kg.
Heifers on offer were also slightly stronger from previous sales, with Inverloch's Northside Pastoral selling a pen of 16 Angus heifers, 400kg, for $1500 or 375c/kg.
