Heifers with calves at foot hit almost $3000 at Euroa Angus feature female sale

Agents yarded 2000 cattle for the annual feature female Angus sale in a market dominated by local graziers and agents, Gippsland restockers and cattle buyers from north of the Murray River.

Nutrien Euroa livestock agent Brad Gleeson said fewer runs of PTIC heifers did not deter prospective buyers from attending the December market.

"We only had nine pens of PTIC heifers and normally we would have about 300 PTIC heifers," he said.

"We would have been lucky to have 70 or 80 there and that's because last year, those heifers to buy were too dear to put away, so people didn't have the runs of heifers this year they normally would have."

Pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers sold between $2300-$1850, while heifers with calves at foot ranged from $2900-$2100 a unit.

Cows with calves at foot sold from $2050-$1500.

Grown heifers ranged on average from $920-$750 or 220-250 cents a kilogram, while weaner heifers sold to a top price of $1100 a head, with most ranging from $900-$750 or 220-265c/kg.

MJ & OJ Hill, Connamara, Ruffy, sold their annual draft of 26 PTIC heifers which sold to a top price $2300, followed by a second pen which sold to $2275.

Among the other volume buyers was Mindarra Park, Benalla, which sold 20 heifers with calves at foot, three to four months, rejoined to Angus bulls, for $2900, and 24 heifers with calves at foot, one to two months, not rejoined, for $2225.

The same vendor sold 10 heifers with calves at foot for $2275 and 17 heifers with calves for $1975.

Thomson Family Trust, Strathbogie, sold 19 heifers with calves at foot, two to three months, rejoined to an Angus bull, for $2300, 18 heifers with calves at foot for $2175, six heifers with calves at foot for $2125 and 19 heifers with calves at foot for $2000.

The same vendor sold 19 second-calving cows for February and March calving for $2025.

Mr Gleeson said PTIC heifers sold to prices agents expected before the sale, while the better-quality heifers were a fraction dearer compared to what agents had anticipated.

"When we got onto our grown heifer run, it was fairly flat with where demand has been and we put that down to a lot of cattle coming out of the woodwork in the last couple of weeks," he said.

"There was no northern support in the yarding, but a lot of cattle stayed locally and went to Gippsland.

"A portion of the cattle went up around the Murray River and that was driven by Ray White Rural Albury, NSW."

Among the volume buyers were Nutrien agents Dan Ivone, Nutrien Paull & Scollard, Myrtleford, and Brian McCormack, Nutrien South Gippsland Livestock, Leongatha.

Mr McCormack bought a mixture of about 200 springing heifers, heifers with calves at foot and unjoined heifers.

"A lot of local agents and farmers who were buying cattle to add more genetics to their herd," Mr Gleeson said.