Leongatha store sale: Cattle prices surge another 20c/kg-30c/kg
Increasingly extraordinary prices are being achieved for cattle at Leongatha’s latest store sale. Here are the market toppers.
A huge yarding of 3500 cattle at Leongatha is shaping up to be a long but very profitable sale for those that could be in attendance today.
The sale, which is currently underway at the Leongatha yards, has already hit highs of up to 816c/kg for light calves and 566c/kg for heavy steers over 500kg despite a smaller crowd of onlookers under Covid-19 restrictions.
“It’s another one of those days when it has all stepped up again. Everyone who was there was there to buy,” Nutrien Ag Solutions Leongatha livestock manager Brian McCormack said.
“We would have had 1400 steers (with Nutrien) here today and I sold two under $1000 and they were only little bobby calves. So it speaks for itself, even the Friesian steers were making good money,” Mr McCormack said.
“A lot of our cattle ended up being bigger steers than what we were expected. We had a lot of steers from 500kg-600kg.”
Vendors SE Murphy of Leongatha were originally set to only send in half of their draft but at the last minute decided to offer all 100 steers in the midst of yet another market surge.
The lead pen from SE Murphy of 10 Angus steers at 609kg sold for $2980 or 489c/kg but was outsold both in dollars-per-head and cents-per-kilogram terms by their lightest pen of 20 at 533kg which made an impressive $3020 or 566c/kg.
“The cattle 70kg lighter have made $40 more than the heaviest pen. The heavier end of the cattle are going straight to the butchers whereas the lighter ones are going to the feedlots, and they’ll pay more if they’re not much over 500kg,” Mr McCormack said.
Heavier steers from 550kg-600kg making 470-500c/kg and a bit over while steers from 500kg-550kg were making from 500c/kg to 560c/kg.
Steers from 400kg-500kg returned from 550c/kg to 600c/kg while those between 400kg-420kg made more than 600c/kg.
Lighter calves from 280kg-330kg pushed up to 700c/kg and over. For example, an A & T Derham, Traralgon, pen of 21 Angus at 299kg made $2220 (742c/kg).
Nutrien’s dearest pen of the day in cents-per-kilogram terms made a high of 816c/kg or $2140 for a pen of 13 Angus calves at 262kg offered by B Garett.
The sale is set to wrap up at around 4pm this afternoon with the heifer portion of the yarding still to go under the hammer.
MORE TO COME
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