Prices driven by Gippsland graziers at Leongatha
Cattle sold 10c dearer on last fortnight at Leongatha last week with interest from east Gippsland graziers putting a solid floor in the market.
STRONG demand from northern Victoria and East Gippsland pushed cattle prices up 10 cents on last fortnight at the Leongatha store sale late last week.
Numbers were typical of a winter yarding, with just 1600 cattle on offer.
Strong competition from northern feedlots and a recent kick from East Gippsland graziers kept the market strong.
Nutrien Ag Solutions livestock manager Brian McCormack said a bumper season in East Gippsland has a sent a flurry of buyers seeking cattle, but South Gippsland remains too wet to be viable.
“East Gippland has had quite a bit of rain in the last week and they’ve got grass now so they’re seeking cattle. But South Gippsland is still very wet, so it’ll take a while for that to dry out a bit,” Mr McCormack said.
One of the top-priced pens sold for $1890 – or 324c/kg – for five two-year-old Angus steers weighing 582kg offered by producers J & P O’Conner.
Another 11 Angus steers weighing 492kg and sold by the same vendor, making $1680 or 341c/kg.
Grown Angus steers made from 400c/kg to 420c/kg for cattle over 400kg, while good quality weaner steers started at 440c/kg making up to 500c/kg.
“As the cattle got smaller they got dearer cents-per-kilogram wise as long as they were well enough bred,” Mr McCormack said.
“People are getting to a stage where they’re wanting to buy numbers.”
A highlight of the market was a line of 10-month-old Angus steers offered by I & R Hengstberger from Dumbalk North.
The pen of 10 weighing 333kg sold to a top of $1480 or 444c/kg, while a second pen of 24 steers weighing 307kg sold for $1400 or 456c/kg.
Another 15 steers weighing 255kg returned $1270 or 498c/kg.
The heifer market similarly averaged 10c dearer than the last store cattle sale.
Heifers with weight around 400c/kg sold from 340kg to 400kg, while lighter weight, plainer making from 370c/kg to 400c/kg for types weighing around 260kg to 300kg.
McGauren Pastoral manager Max O’Doherty sold a total of 94 Angus heifers for an average of $1514 and a top of $1620 or 417c/kg for a pen of 25 weighing 388kg.
“We breed Hereford cattle but we bought these Angus heifers about six months ago to turnover and they sold extremely well,” Mr O’Doherty said.
He said the season in East Gipplsand has been “unbelievable” and helped turn the cattle off quickly.
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