‘Powerhouse’ Angus heifers drive cattle prices to almost 600c/kg
A rare appearance of a stellar line of Angus heifers, not usually seen in the saleyard system, topped the prices at Wodonga’s cattle sale.
A “powerhouse” line of Angus heifers which usually don’t appear in the saleyard system took liveweight prices to the cusp of 600c/kg at Wodonga today.
The 237 heifers were from one of Victoria’s biggest beef operations, Endhill, owned by the Paul family who run a cow herd of 3500 on country at Dockers Hill in North East Victoria and in Gippsland.
The heifer weaners, aged 10-11-months, would usually have been grown onto feeder weights of 400kg, but with the tight season they were put into the hot-paced store market.
The lead pen of 50 heifers weighing 267kg sold for $1490 or 558c/kg, followed by 66 at 240kg which made $1400 to come close to hitting the $6/kg mark at 595c/kg. The balance of the heifers sold at $1200 to $1300 on weights as low as 220kg.
Endhill manager Dane Martin described it as a “a great result” with the overall price average across the draft above pre-sale hopes.
“This store market is so strong at the moment which is why we put these heifers into the auction system and its obviously been a great result,” he said.
“We are still a bit nervous about the season as while it looks good and green at the moment there is no subsoil moisture underneath, and its why we thought it might have been a challenge to get these heifers to 400kg for feedlot entry by Christmas time like we usually do.”
The sale at Wodonga was held just hours after more good spring rainfall fell across parts of the North East, and any well-bred lines of cattle were keenly supported with restockers needing 500c/kg-plus for the top heifers and 600c/kg-plus for any pens of genuine Angus steers.
Local buyers from Benalla through to Albury dominated buying, Rodwells agent Justin Way purchasing the first 110 heifers from Endhill to join for the high-end pregnancy-tested-in-calf market which likes a “story” behind the cattle in terms of breed quality.
“The price is up there but you’ve got the story with these heifers and people investing in PTIC heifers are really only interested in good ones,” he said.
The Endhill herd has been based on Landfall Angus blood for more than 15 years and its beef operation has won numerous award, selling agents Corcoran Parker telling the crowd of the marbling potential and the genetic powerhouse behind the calves.
But looking at the broader price outcomes from the sale, it was a very mixed line-up of cattle in terms of breed type and quality and it kept a lid on price movements.
To break it down, the 748 steers sold peaked at 640c/kg for an average of 528c/kg for everything sold which included crossbreds and a few dairy steers. The 528c/kg price outcomes exactly matches the September 4 sale, according to data from the NVLX.
However, the heifer price average was a lot stronger this week, trending at 508c/kg over 859 sold to show a 50c/kg jump on a fortnight ago, but noting the dearer outcome was driven by the key feature lines.
Apart from the Edenhill heifers, there was also a standout line of Angus heifers from Preswon Pty Ltd from Benalla. This property sold 63 grown heifers with a weight of 373kg for $1965, followed by 34 at 350kg for $1900 for returns of 520-540c/kg.
The standout results in the young steer run were:
SEAN Fitzgerald: 21 Angus steers, 10-11 months and 264kg, $1690 or 640c/kg; 18, 229kg at $1400 (611c/kg);
NK NICHOL & Co, Bethanga: 24 Angus, 228kg, $1450 (640c/kg);
GOBARRALONG Valley Beef: 68 Angus calves, 243kg, $1540 (633c/kg).
The figures show how calf weights remain a lot lighter than normal coming off the drought-like autumn and winter.
Corcoran Parker agent Rod Potter said this was the biggest advantage buyers had as they faced up to increasing cents-a-kilogram costs.
“The opportunity that is presenting itself for buyers is that most of the cattle being sold are 50kg to 100kg lighter than they would normally be; the quality is no different but the lighter weight is helping keep dollar-a-head costs down,” he said.
