Prices up $60 at Wodonga market

Cattle prices jumped in Wodonga today as northeast Victorian restockers enjoy a solid spring. Read which cattle fared best.

The store cattle market has begun feeding off momentum in the prime beef market, with young steers and heifers gaining up to $60 at Wodonga today.

The sale across 1720 cattle was described as “brighter’’ by auctioneers, with northeast restockers who are now enjoying a solid spring prepared to stick with bidding and commit to purchasing.

The feature lines of young Angus and Hereford steers sold above 240c/kg liveweight, peaking at 282c/kg, or $790 for 26 Angus calves weighing 280kg from David Cook of Bullioh.

Some heifers also hit 200c/kg which hasn’t been recorded at Wodonga in recent weeks.

“It has certainly been brighter here today for sure,’’ Rodwells agent Peter Ruaro said.

“It was probably up $50 or $60 on any of the feature lines.’’

The stronger trend was linked to recent rain cementing spring feed growth in the local area, and farmers taking some confidence from a slight rally in the prime cattle market in recent days.

“The trend for (slaughter and feeder cattle) has been better this past week and I think its where the confidence is coming from,’’ said Craig Schubert, who was on the selling rail for Schubert Boers.

“People wanted some reassurance as no-one expected the cattle market to fall away like it did.’’

The feature line today was 345 Angus yearlings bred by Andrew Cumming and Sarah Dahlenburg of Jingellic in NSW. They were described as 11-13 months and Ardrossan and Dollar blood, and in the past have been sold at the feature January cattle sales or direct to feedlots.

Andrew Cumming and Sarah Dahlenburg, Jingellic in NSW, sold the feature run of Angus yearlings today at the Wodonga store sale, receiving up to $1000 for steers in a better than expected result with most pens tracking between 240c to 265c/kg liveweight.

The main run of 145 steers sold as follows: 49 at 375kg for $1000 (266c/kg liveweight); 24 at 391kg for $990 (250c/kg); 48 at 370kg for $885 (239c/kg); and 19 at 261kg for $705 (270c/kg).

Mr Cumming said the prices were at the “upper end of the ballpark’’ they had hoped for, bringing some relief around the decision they had made to sell now.

He said while they still had reasonable feed including hay, they had factored in the forecast for dry and hot conditions in coming months, including what this could do to possible demand and price for store cattle in the summer.

“We could have held them and added 30kg but the market could easily lose 30c/kg so you end up with no gain, and we could have lost all that cow feed as well,’’ he said.

“And agents are telling us there is no feed in the north and the only buying is southern bullock finishers and if that demand disappears (in the summer), what have you got left?’’

The stronger sale at Wodonga did divide onlookers, some taking the positive view that the cattle market may have “bottomed out”, while others opted not to purchase but rather sit back and watch what hot weather and another flush of numbers could do to prices.

The categories to show the most improvement were the medium weight runs of steers, based on sale data collected each market.

The average for 165 steers in the 280-330kg liveweight category today was 243c/kg, against 224c/kg a fortnight ago. The 330-400kg steers averaged 229c/kg to be just marginally head of the previous sale, although the category had a 10c/kg higher top price of 268c/kg liveweight this week.

Selling action at the Wodonga store cattle sale where prices were judged up to $60 dearer.

Quality did play a role across the sale, and the yarding was very mixed for breed type and condition. There were lines of small calves sent down from the pastoral area of Bourke, NSW, which were showing the impact of dry conditions.

And the sale still had its tough spots on plainer cattle and dairy breeds. There was a run of little Friesian steers just weaned off the bucket which sold for $60, with other yearling type Friesians making 100-130c/kg liveweight.

The opening line-up of cows and calves also struggled for support, with quality a factor behind the rates of $550 for odd lots to a peak of $1300 for young Angus cows which showed a bit of frame and had young calves.

The strongest demand was for the well-bred lines of steers. The Wright family of Sandy Creek offering a standout line of yearling Herefords. The top pen at 425kg sold for $1020 or 240c/kg, with the next lines making $900 at 386kg (233c/kg) and $850 for 343kg (247c/kg).

Once onto lighter calves or steers that didn’t have as much breed and quality appeal, the rate was mostly 200c to 235c/kg liveweight. The lead of the little steers from Bourke, 24 black baldy weighing 220kg, made $515 or 234c/kg. The tail end at 153kg made $130 (85c/kg).

In the heifer run a bidding duel between buyers carried a pen of 13 Angus yearling heifers from GE & EL Fisher to $970 on a weight of 402kg, working out to 241c/kg liveweight. The same vendor received $700 or 212c/kg for another eight Angus at 330kg.

Most heifers were tracking in a range of 170c to 200c/kg liveweight.