Hot weather drives big Yea yarding
They advertised 2200 cattle, but the hot week meant there was an extra 500 sold today at Yea. Read what impact the bigger offering had on the market.
Yea’s cattle market defied the odds today as a big offering sold to solid rates despite a week of hot weather.
The market swelled from an advertised 2200 to 2700 head, as beef producers looked to offload numbers due to dry, hot conditions.
There were fears the big numbers of store cattle on offer next week at the mountain calf sales plus Myrtleford would subdue demand, but Elders Yea livestock manager Jamie Quinlan said the sale had gone much better than expected.
“There were not a lot of cattle sales around this week so we had cattle come in to be sold with 60-70 per cent from outside the district, though in a 150km radius,” Mr Quinlan said.
“I think people were offloading some numbers due to that hot weather we had.”
The big field of buyers included a couple of South Gippsland agents who do not regularly attend the Yea fixture and this, combined with strong feeder support, kept prices on a par to recent markets.
Mr Quinlan said at the heavy end of steers, those from 400-500kg made 320-350c/kg liveweight, while even heavier steers, at 500-600kg, returned from 300-325c/kg liveweight.
Steers which fell into the 340-400kg weight range sold from 350-370c/kg for well bred lines that were nicely presented.
Heavy heifers also sold well, with those 380kg and heavier making from 270-310c/kg liveweight.
Lighter heifers that were suitable for breeding, and were vendor-bred, did even better with the best in the 300-380kg liveweight range making 310-330c/kg liveweight.
Mr Quinlan said where prices were tougher were for small pen lots of one to five cattle, or those which were not vendor-bred and not as well presented, with these types cheaper.
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