How falling prime cattle sales are affecting store cattle values

Wodonga’s store sale was one of the first since prime prices took a hit. See the best prices and the sellers behind them.

A dip in prime markets and wintery conditions took little away from competition at today’s Wodonga store cattle sale where some drafts of steers still made more than 700c/kg.

Two orders – one for far northwest NSW and another for a South Australian feedlot – underpinned the market but local competition was also solid for the offering of nearly 1700 cattle.

Corcoran Parker auctioneer Leigh McEvoy said some of the cream came off the top of prices, but cattle still sold very well given it was winter, cold and there had been a price drop in prime values.

“All in all, it was still a terrific sale and there is still competition for cattle even without commission buyers and no real feedlot strength,” Mr McEvoy said.

“What did help prices through was the quality of the offering with some really nice pens on offer.”

The sale topped at $2740 for a pen of 579kg Angus steers, zero and two-tooth, sold by Carabobala Pty Ltd to a buyer from Euroa, at a return of 528c/kg.

There was solid competition for the heavier end of steers over 400kg which made from 496c/kg to 592c/kg with the top money paid for 412kg black baldies, which made $2440.

There were many pens of steers weighing 300-350kg, which sold to $2250. On a cents-a-kilogram basis these sold to 694c/kg, paid for a pen of 26 Angus weighing 317kg, which were eight to ten months and returned $2200 for vendors Yacca Pastoral.

The same vendor also scored well when its lighter draft, 257kg, made $2020 or a sale-topping 786c/kg when compared on a liveweight basis.

It was possible to buy pens of steers for less than $2000, but the best-bred lines still fetched more, ranging from 586c/kg to 627c/kg for lines weighing more than 300kg.

Under 300kg, the rates for Angus steers settled between 640c/kg and 732c/kg with quality and pen size influencing bidding.

There was a limited offering of Herefords, which topped at $2010 for 346kg steers sold by Rowan Wallace, which made up to 793c/kg for 222kg Hereford steers.

Euro-cross steers failed to break through 600c/kg regardless of weight, with the best price 594c/kg paid for a pen of 12 Limousin-cross steers, 328kg, sold by Marcus Nixon.

Competition for heifers was underpinned by commission buyer Graham Ward from Albury, who was buying for a South Australian feedlot operator.

He was a dominant force on the heavier Angus heifers, securing pen after pen at weights of up to 442kg, paying 532-603c/kg for females to put on feed.

The highest heifer price was 671c/kg paid for a pen of 35 black baldy heifers, 228kg, which sold for $1530 for vendors J and G MacDougall.

Another good sale was the 620ckg paid for a pen of 10 Angus, 248kg, which earned $1530 for vendors J, G and V Yensch.

Other lines of heifers mainly sold from 570-600c/kg.

There were only a few pens of breeders offered, with Angus-Friesian cows with three-month-old calves making $3160 and a herd dispersal of Angus breeders, PTIC and ranging in age from heifers to mixed age cows selling for $1980-$3060.