Locals did strongly support the first store sale at Mortlake for February, but attendance in the gallery was down and quality dropped compared to the last few months.
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Agents yarded 2360 cattle of average quality which primarily feature well bred cows & calves and PTIC cattle.
Despite this, local bidders were mainly active and kept prices steady as they took advantage of a number of processors being absent.
Midfield Meats and Teys were present buying heavier cattle, while AuctionsPlus and commission buyers were also active, but many were simply taking a look.
Some heavier cows and calves sold for $2000 a head including a pen of eight Angus cows and calves from K & J Ferrari being one of the equal top pens of the section.
Dalrimya Park had a significant run of 36 Hereford cows with calves at foot, with one pen consisting of 11 cows and calves and another consisting of eight cows and calves selling for $1475 each.
Heatherlie Farms consigned 142 cattle with 42 PTIC cattle on offer, with one pen of 12 PTIC cattle sold for $1625.
Charles Stewart Mortlake branch manager Matt Baxter said the sale did start slow, but as cattle got younger, bidders showed more interest and wanted to take advantage of their green paddocks.
"The sale was a bit dearer than what has been the last month or two, with a fair bit of conference around the market at the moment," he said.
"There were a lot of local buyers and not many northern operators here, especially as our bigger sale is in two weeks time, but considering the quality here, we felt it sold really well."
Limited grown and weaner steers were 10 cents dearer compared to weaner steers sold two weeks ago.
A pen offered by South Boorook hit the top cents per kilogram mark of 370c/kg, or $1598 for eight Angus weaner steers with an average weight of 356kg.
A pen from Yellow Stone, with three Angus grown steers, 441kg, sold for 362c/kg or $1596.
Many coloured grown steers of good quality were also offered, with BW Farm Trust selling a pen of 19 Murray Grey grown steers, 485kg, sold for 348.ckg or $1498.
Mr Baxter said there had been a steady growth in interest in coloured cattle in the region recently.
"I think looking at today's results those covered steers and heifers sold really well and potentially people are keeping their better lines of black calves for that that second sale of the month," he said.
Lomax Farms sold 14 F1 Angus crossbread grown steers, 467kg, for 314c/kg or $1469.
AW & SM Healey sold 23 Angus F1 crossbred steers for, 389kg, for 310 c/kg or $1206.
Heifers remained steady, with a pen from SD Harris consisting 22 Angus/Hereford-cross grown heifers, 374kg, sold for 330c/kg or $1235.
Bass Straight had a significant run of 60 PTIC cows, with a pen of 19 PTIC Angus cows sold for $1900.
