Echuca dairy dispersal: Tough competition leaves many buyers empty-handed

Fierce competition for young Holstein and crossbred cows buoyed prices at Russ and Sue Pearson’s dairy dispersal in Echuca.

Russ and Sue Pearson returned an average of $2225 and a top of $4100 at their Holstein and crossbred dispersal. Picture: Dannika Bonser

BUYERS travelled from all parts of Victoria and the Southern NSW for Russ and Sue Pearson’s dairy dispersal at the Echuca selling centre last week.

But many went home empty-handed following strong competition on the day.

The sale topped $4100 twice and averaged $2225 for the 364 Holsteins and crossbred cows sold.

Flanagan Marketing Services director Lawrie Flanagan said it was “a remarkable sale” with 52 registered and competitive bidders, which meant not all were successful buyers.

“A lot of people went expecting to buy cows at a bit over $2000 but the Holsteins were making a lot more than that – the buyers needed $2500 to $3000 to purchase,” Mr Flanagan said.

Mr Flanagan said the crossbred cows averaged about $1800 while the Holsteins averaged around $2400.

The top-priced top priced cows were a freshly calved two-year-old Holstein heifer sired by Galaxy and a two-year-old Holstein sired by Collued, who both sold for $4100. They were purchased by Ian Conn from Hedley in South Gippsland and local Tongala breeders Kim and Damian Watson, respectively.

Mr Conn purchased 24 freshly calved young cows in total for an average $3416. Including two well-produced young crossbred cows, who were milking 42 litres, for $4000 each.

“We were chasing the freshly calved, very young first and second calvers,” Mr Conn said.

“We built a new rotary shed last year and are trying to push numbers up – we hope to milk just over 800 this year so we were chasing cows to fill the gap for us,” he said.

The Pearson herd had been developed through 43 years of AI Breeding and many lots were highly sought after due to their notable AI sires.

New breeders Greg and Sue Ellen Moore from Katunga purchased 13 young cows for an average of $3300 and top of $4000 for a daughter of AI sire MVP, while John Munzel from Gunbower purchased 16 freshly calved young cows for an average of $2531, including two Holstein heifers rejoined to sexed semen for $2800 each.

The Davis family from Orange in NSW were the largest volume buyers of the day, purchasing 62 head for an average of $2061. Holm Trading also sought out 26 A2 tested Holstein cows, taking the number of cows travelling to the South West Riverina district to 125 in total.

Mr Flanagan said the favourable season has sparked confidence for dairy farmers, making for increasingly competitive sale market.

“We still haven’t solved the water problem but the fact that feed is going to be available is a big step in the right direction,” he said.