Store cattle surpass 650c/kg at Wodonga sale

Small numbers didn’t stop big prices at Wodonga today with store cattle values breaking 650c/kg. See the rates fetched here. (Picture: File)

Cattle are sold at Wodonga last month. Prices fetched today were not affected by Covid-19, an agent says. Picture: Fiona Myers

High prime cattle prices and widespread rain spurred bidding at Wodonga’s store cattle market today despite Covid-19 restrictions affecting attendance.

Online bidding was strong in the 1000 cattle yarding, especially for heifers, in a sale where prices were as strong as recent values seen both at Wodonga and other centres.

Corcoran Parker auctioneer Leigh McEvoy said rates were not affected by Covid-19 with “enough local competition to gobble up the offering”.

“We had a sale where the yarding was low, there has been rain and the prime market is strong,” Mr McEvoy said.

“It was a mixed quality yarding but if that quality was there, people were prepared to pay a premium.”

Steers which fell into the weight range of 250-300kg attracted the highest cents-a-kilogram rates, consistently above 600c/kg in the pick of the results.

In figures analysed by The Weekly Times:

Steers over 400kg made 461-508c/kg;

Steers 350-400kg made 515-548c/kg;

Steers 300-350kg made 507-603c/kg;

Steers 250-300kg made 585-669c/kg; and

Steers under 250kg sold from 560c/kg to 685c/kg.

Some of the stellar sales for steers were for Herefords, with G Goleman making $1840, or 580c/kg for those weighing 317kg and the lighter draft, at 265kg, selling for $1680, or 634c/kg.

Other good Hereford results included D and L Cameron and son, who sold 8 Herefords, 238kg, for $1630 (685c/kg) and Mt Skene Pastoral Company, whose top pen of 20 Herefords, 335kg, made $1980 (591c/kg) and the lighter pen of 11 which weighed 251kg selling for $1680 or 669c/kg.

A feature draft was sold by I and D McGaffin, with their black Simmental-cross steers making $1990, or 603c/kg for a pen weighing 330kg, with the 275kg line selling for $1790 and returning 651c/kg.

Later in the sale, the heifer portion from the same draft returned 522-594c/kg for future breeders which weighed 261-312kg and made $1550-$1715.

There was keen competition for heifers, with most drafts weighing 250-350kg.

Rates broke 600c/kg once in this weight range, paid for a pen of 12 Herefords weighing 253kg sold by J McCormack which made $1530. The heavier heifers from the same draft at 297kg made $1650 or 556c/kg.

More figures analysed by The Weekly Times showed heifers 350-400kg made 474-526c/kg; 300-350kg made 484-564c/kg; 250-300kg made $531-605c/kg and the lightest heifers under 250kg all made more than 600c/kg, at 606-651c/kg.

The best price for light heifers was achieved by Pulitano Pastoral, Mansfield, which sold the top of their Angus heifers, a pen of 24 weighing 271kg, for $1610, or 594c/kg and the second run, a pen of eight weighing 232kg, for $1510 or 651c/kg.

The limited offering of breeding females topped at $2800 for a pen of three Hereford cows with first calves, while joined Limousin cows, pregnancy-tested-in-calf to Charolais bull and due to calve in September, made $2480.

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