Wodonga store cattle sale: Wet conditions drive bids higher

Amid falls of up to 100mm of rain, commission buyers, producers and feedlotters have been lobbing spirited bids for heifers and steers.

RAIN whet the appetite of cattle producers at Wodonga today, spurring bidding to more than 700c/kg for heifers and up to 693c/kg for steers.

The offering of about 1000 cattle included some lines and pens of weaners that met spirited bidding after up to 100mm of rain fell in the region in the past week.

Commission buyers went toe-to-toe with producers with feedlot competition also keen.

Heavy steers sold for 400c/kg-500c/kg but it was light steers about 200kg-240kg that commanded the highest prices on a cents-a-kilogram basis.

Some of the best sales included N and S Nugent, whose top pen of EU-accredited Angus steers weighing 298kg made S1680 (564c/kg) but then their next pen weighing 40kg less at 241kg made $1570 or 651c/kg.

Further into the sale, a bigger run of 90 unweaned Hereford steers sold to $1700 for the heaviest (282kg, 603c/kg) with rates getting progressively higher as the cattle got lighter. The second pen of 46 weighing 252kg made $1630 (647c/kg) while the third pen, which weighed 218kg, made $1510 or 693c/kg.

A handful of sales broke the 600c/kg mark, but prices settled at 500c/kg-580c/kg for bigger lines and better-bred pens.

Heavier steers more than 350kg made from 400c/kg-500c/kg with the top price $2060 for a pen of Angus steers, 523kg, which returned 394c/kg for vendors N and C Blacker.

Doug Williams from Sandy Creek came to see his cattle sold for the very first time today and said the strength of the market encouraged him to see the results in person.

“I’ve never seen the market so good, and I have never seen the season so good,” Mr Williams said.

Mr Williams sold 136 Rangan-blood Charolais-Angus steer and heifer weaners, which were eight to 11 months. The steer portion, which weighed 297-359kg, made $1685-$1790 (499-567c/kg) while the heifer draft, which weighed 290-345kg, made $1490-$1645 (477-514c/kg).

Momentum stayed strong for the offering of heifers, which topped at $1955 for a pen of 24 Angus, 437kg, sold by G Mirabella, which returned 447c/kg.

A few pens of heifers dipped below 500/kg, but most made more, with lighter heifers again attracting the highest cents-a-kilogram rate.

The standout in the heifer offering was the run of Hereford heifers sold by Ewenmar Pty Ltd at Tooma, NSW, which had sold Hereford steer weaners earlier in the sale to 693c/kg.

The EU-accredited, unweaned heifer calves sold to $1330 for the first pen (222kg, 594c/kg) but the second, lighter pen made more, selling for $1350 for 191kg heifers or 707c/kg.

Tom and Chris White from Glenellen Pastoral, Henty, paid 707c/kg for 191kg Hereford heifers to join part of their breeding program, or $1350. Picture: Fiona Myers

Buyers Tom and Chris White from Glenellen Pastoral at Henty, NSW, said they had allocated $1340 on their “cheat sheet” before the sale and were happy enough to pay slightly more to secure the pen of 17.

“We will join them in spring, and they will become part of our breeding herd,” Mr White said.

“We have sold older cows and we want to consolidate numbers.”

TOP LOTS

Steers

N&C Blacker: 3 Angus, 523kg, $2060 (394c/kg).

W&R Coulston: 10 black baldies, 460kg, $2025 (440c/kg); 13 Hereford, 453kg, $1950 (430c/kg).

B&J Birch: 3 Angus, 432kg, $1900 (440c/kg); 8, 336kg, $1680 (500c/kg).

S Lewington: 9 black baldies, 16-18 months, 471kg, $1990 (423c/kg); 7, 518kg, $1950 (376c/kg).

The Homelands Pastoral: 9 Angus, 403kg, $1865 (463c/kg); 15, 358kg, $1785 (499c/kg).

J McCormack: 20 Hereford, 386kg, 10-12 months, $1860 (482c/kg).

J&S Scott: 8 Hereford, 407kg, $1855 (456c/kg).

Ben Valley Angus: 16 Angus, 345kg, $1810 (525c/kg).

C&E Williams: 25 Charolais-Angus, 359kg, $1790 (499c/kg); 17, 297kg, $1685 (567c/kg); 13 Angus, 319kg, $1750 (549c/kg); 13, 251kg, $1550 (618c/kg).

GBH: 5 Angus and black baldies, 389kg, $1780 (447c/kg).

M&J McNamara: 12 black baldies, 343kg, $1785 (520c/kg); 25 Hereford, 371kg, $1770 (477c/kg).

Carabobala Pty Ltd: 9 Angus, 12-14 months, 363kg, $1765 (486c/kg).

Plantus Seedlings: 23 Angus, 310kg, $1745 (563c/kg).

J Archer: 5 Angus, 372kg, $1730 (465c/kg).

B&J Elliot: 12 Hereford, 345kg, $1720 (499c/kg).

Faraday Valley: 6 Angus, 334kg, $1710 (512c/kg); 14, 277kg, $1640 (592c/kg).

Karawarra Pastoral: 7 Angus, 340kg, $1710 (503c/kg).

B&W Hodgkin: 7 Hereford, 365kg, $1705 (467c/kg); 16, 301kg, $1700 (565c/kg).

Ewenmar Pty Ltd: 18 Hereford, 282kg, $1700 (603c/kg); 46, 252kg, $1630 (647c/kg); 26, 218kg, $1510 (693c/kg).

Ray Mack: 10 Angus, 301kg, $1685 (560c/kg).

N&S Nugent: 8 Angus, EU accredited, 298kg, $1680 (564c/kg); 7, 241kg, $1570 (651c/kg).

M&J Larkin: 9 Angus, 300kg, $1660 (553c/kg).

D Brooks: 7 Charolais-cross, 314kg, $1660 (529c/kg) 7, 229kg, $1290 (573c/kg); 10 Angus, 241kg, $1480 (614c/kg).

B Gibney: 9 Charolais-Angus, 297kg, $1650 (556c/kg).

Kenneth Weir: 13 Black Limousin, 247kg, $1580 (640c/kg).

Doug Sutherland: 8 Angus, 236kg, $1550 (657c/kg).

J Sgambelloni: 9 Angus, 243kg, $1535 (632c/kg).

Kindcardine Pastoral: 11 Limousin-cross, 279kg, $1470 (527c/kg); 11 Angus, 248kg, $1460 (589c/kg); 7, 202kg, $1190 (589c/kg)

HEIFERS

G Mirabella: 24 Angus, 437kg, $1955 (447c/kg).

J&J Paterson: 25 Angus, 344kg, $1810 (526c/kg); 11, 297kg, $1485 (500c/kg).

S&S Jones: 5 Angus, 16-18 months, 480kg, $1800 (375c/kg).

Shadow Grove: 14 Angus, 413kg, $1780 (431c/kg); 9, 372kg, $1635 (440c/kg): 11, 335kg, $1590 (475c/kg); 7, 297kg, $1425 (480c/kg).

Five Mile Enterprises: 10 Angus, 452kg, $1700 (376c/kg).

M&J McNamara: 11 black baldies, 336kg, $1680 (500c/kg); 4 Hereford, 371kg, $1685 (421c/kg); 7 Hereford, 320kg, $1605 (502c/kg).

C&E Williams: 28 Charolais-Angus, 345kg, $1645 (477c/kg); 26, 290kg, $1490 (514c/kg); 6 Angus and black baldy, 367kg, $1600 (436c/kg).

Robyn Harris: 5 Shorthorn, 363kg, $1600 (441c/kg).

Plantus Seedlings: 11 Angus, 333kg, $1600 (480c/kg).

Bernard Gibney: 8 Charolais-Angus, 283kg, $1500 (530c/kg).

Kenneth Weir: 12 Angus, 249kg, $1485 (596c/kg).

Carabobala Pty Ltd: 6 Angus, 304kg, $1465 (482c/kg).

Ewenmar Pty Ltd: 17 Hereford, 191kg, $1350 (707c/kg); 31, 222kg, $1330 (599c/kg).