Cattle price boom at Myrtleford as weather drives confidence
Price expectations for cattle have been well and truly exceeded at a special store sale held where consistent rain since autumn has created muddy conditions at the yards.
THE old saying “there is money in mud” proved true at Myrtleford on Friday, with gumboots and deep pockets required for anyone wanting to buy cattle.
Cows and calves sold to $3510 and heavy steers to $2090.
The entire yarding averaged $1840.
“It went well above our expectations,’’ said selling agent Dan Ivone, Paull & Scollard Nutrien.
The area was in the midst of a boom season after consistent rain since the autumn break, creating muddy saleyards in the middle of October.
Competition was dominated by local restockers, with just a few buyers logged in on AuctionsPlus able to match the pace set by those on the ground.
Even before the sale farmers knew conditions were ripe for a strong outcome.
Yackandandah producer Ian O’Keefe said the grass was growing “and like a lot of people I need some more cattle”.
“But I’m a bit shaky on the prices they could make — I don’t want to spend too much
in case this cattle job turns around.’’
The sale began on a line up of 161 cows with young calves, making it one of the largest offerings of breeding outfits seen at a southern saleyard for some time.
The opening pen of 12 Hereford cows, rejoined to Angus, and with autumn drop calves sold for $3510.
As the sale was interfaced on AuctionsPlus everything had been weighed.
Those cows, which were coming up for their second calf, averaged 560kg.
The balance of the offering had spring drop calves aged just a few weeks.
Some key results included:
VENDOR IBP, 10 Angus cows, 456kg, with young calves $3040, with another nine cows at 415kg making $2880; and
TWIN Mountain Pastoral, nine Hereford heifers, 478kg, with black baldy calves 1-2 months, $2860.
Selling strongly on size was a line of young black cows from Wolf Ventures.
A pen of eight weighing 380kg, with calves just 2-3 weeks, made $2350, with another eight at 368kg making $2320 and seven outfits at 352kg at $2300.
Overall, agents reported an average of $2684 for 161 cows and calves sold.
The steer result was just as impressive, pushed along by heavyweights as the season meant most cattle were in prime condition.
The feature offering of 178 Angus steers from the Ferguson family, Liddle Homestead.
The tops weighed 456kg, and showing their evenness. The line averaged 426kg.
They averaged $1830, working out to 430c/kg liveweight.
The 669 steers sold averaged $1795.
Heifers also sold exceptionally well as local farmers stepped in for replacement breeding stock
against backgrounders and grass finishers.
Among the top lots were 17 Angus Simmental heifers at 416kg which made $1780 to also be around 430c/kg.
The 314 heifers in the yarding averaged $1509.
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