Seedstock producers hopeful for improved buyer sentiment

Seedstock producers are optimistic for this year’s bull sales after strong prices for weaners. And some will be offering more than last year.

Seedstock producers are looking to the commercial market to gauge how the upcoming autumn bull sales will play out.

Elders stud stock manager for Victoria and the Riverina Ross Milne said expectations were that things would be very similar to last year.

However, there was hope of an improvement in buyer sentiment buoyed by better prices at the recent run of January weaner sales.

“The season has been difficult in the last 12 months but the numbers and quality are certainly there,” Mr Milne said.

He said buyers would use a mixture of estimated breeding figures and visual appraisal to make their selections.

At Mortlake, in January, the best weaners sold for 460c/kg, while at Hamilton prices were quoted at about 412c/kg. This compares to 2024 when most weaners sold for 310-350c/kg.

Paul Dooley from Tamworth and Ross Milne from Elders during a sale at Yarram Park. Picture: Nicole Cleary

Frank Archer of the Landfall Angus stud at Dilston in Tasmania said they would be offering 267 bulls this year.

“We have a handful more than last year,” he said.

Mr Archer said the philosophy at Landfall was that they didn’t necessarily aim to be the biggest or the most expensive but wanted to offer buyers value for money.

“If we can put together a large offering of high-performance bulls that are functional cattle and commercially orientated, then that is our aim,” he said.

“Having a larger offering allows buyers to select from bigger groups of bulls, and they have more to choose from regarding what they take home,” he said.

Mr Archer said they were anticipating keen demand but were also aware of the challenging seasonal conditions in some of the regions where the buyers come from.

Nutrien stud stock account manager for the southern region Tim Woodham, said there was more confidence this year because the calf sales had started well.

He also anticipated there to be keen interest, not just in the Angus cattle, but also in all of the other breeds on offer.

“Cattle confidence, in general, is higher than it was this time last year,” he said.

“We might also see a bit more strength from other breeds (other than Angus) and that is likely to be evident this year.”

However, since the run of weaner sales, young cattle prices have dropped back, with the Eastern States Young Cattle Indicator at 643c/kg carcass weight – down 12c/kg on the same time in 2024.

The National Young Cattle Indicator was at 345c/kg liveweight, down 3c/kg on the same time a year ago.