Mortlake cattle sale: Price hit takes hold

Buyers were in a position to be choosy at the Mortlake sale on Thursday. See the price ranges here.

Crossbred and dairy steers wore a price hit at Mortlake today as restocking confidence continues to sour.

Price falls of 10 cents to 40 cents per kilogram were shared across the yarding, agents reported, as the buying field was reduced to mainly local southwest agents and farmers.

There were no major commission buying orders that usually attend this market and purchase for interstate areas such as NSW and South Australia.

“If it wasn’t a decent line of cattle, it was hit hard – anything that was really crossbred or had horns was hit hard price-wise,’’ said Brian O’Halloran auctioneer Anthony Mahoney.

About half the 2000-head yarding was Friesian steers and dairy-beef cross animals, with quality lines of straight-bred Angus cattle only available in limited lots.

While there is a fortnightly store sale at Mortlake, one sale a month has mostly crossbred cattle and the other market is usually reserved for the bigger lines of straight-bred Angus and Euro types.

Mr Mahoney said this had to be considered alongside the prices achieved at Mortlake today.

“It was the crossbred sale, and people need to understand that, and the prices might be a little bit false in regards to being a market indicator of better quality straight-bred cattle,’’ he said.

The National Livestock Reporting Service said while the overall sale was cheaper, there was different discounting depending on quality. It quoted the best beef steers and heifers as 10c to 20c easier, the general run of crossbred and dairy types 20c to 40c back, while the most secondary lots fell by up to 60c.

James Douglas from Peterborough, pictured at Mortlake cattle market. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

There was a scattering of young Angus steers, which peaked at 334c/kg liveweight. But in reality, the bulk of the yarding sold below 250c/kg, with a considerable number of dairy and crossbred steers and heifers below 200c.

Agents said most of the store-conditioned young Friesian steers sold from 100c to 135c/kg liveweight, while those displaying more weight and in fresher condition were a bit better-supported thanks to local processors.

The NLRS said the best Friesian steers over 400kg sold from 160c to 210c to an average 175c/kg. At 175c, a 450kg steer works out at $780.

Angus Friesian steers mostly made from 140c to 240c/kg, depending on quality and size with the lighter and plainer shapes at the lower end of the price spectrum.

Considering the favourable conditions in the south, and with the spring flush of feed still expected, some people did query why so many light dairy and crossbred steers were being pushed out.

Mr Mahoney said there were practical and emotional reasons behind it.

“There were people looking to clear a few cattle to lock up paddocks for hay, particularly dairy farmers who had reared steers and now want to conserve feed for their herd,’’ he said.

“And then there is just all this talk of El Nino and the possibility the job (cattle market) could get cheaper – people don’t know what the bottom is and have started to hit the panic button.’’