Yea store sale November: Weaners drop $400

One of the first big weaner sales of season sales saw significant price corrections at Yea. See the feature line prices here.

The first big weaner sale for Victoria ruffled some feathers today as long-time vendors and their feature lines saw prices ease $200 to $400 on last year at Yea.

As the auctioneers flew through the yarding of 2000, selling everything in under two hours, vendors and prospective buyers quickly realised the obvious price correction.

The first pen of the day topped the market with a high of $2410 or 588c/kg achieved by Lorton Vale’s pen of 22 Angus weaner steers at 410kg.

Selling action from Nutrien auctioneer Anthony Delaney at the Yea November weaner sale.

For the better-bred cattle, a cents-per-kilogram top of 655c/kg or $2220 was achieved by Rob Cumming and his family for their first pen of 25 Angus steer weaners at 339kg.

“It’s been a bit of a reality check today and it’s reflective of what’s happening in the prime cattle market at the moment which has dived a fair bit in the last week or two,” Nutrien Ag Solutions Mansfield livestock manager Jamie Beckingsale said.

“No-one expected the cattle to make the levels we saw last year, that was phenomenal, but I didn’t expect it to be quite this much tougher either.”

Marshall Yencken and his father David who sold their annual line of 135 Angus steers and heifers to a top of $2360 or 567c/kg at the Yea November weaner sale.

Yencken Pastoral Company was another feature vendor of the sale which sent 135 Angus steers in their annual draft from Kooyong.

Marshall Yencken and his father David offered “some of their best ever cattle” this year – which presented with 40kg more weight on some pens – but were disappointed with the price drop.

“It’s come off a lot – at least a couple hundred bucks for us,” Marshall said.

The Yencken cattle made a top of $2500 or 659c/kg last year for calves at 379kg – 37kg kilograms less than their 24 Angus steers at 416kg which made $2360 or 567c/kg this year.

The heifer portion of the weaner yarding didn’t offer a lot of types with weight and similarly saw prices ease.

Rob Cumming, centre with his sons Shane, left, and Robert at the Yea November weaner sale. The Cumming family sold a large line of Angus weaner steers and heifers.

The Cumming family topped the heifer market with 38 Angus weaners at 312kg which returned $1890 or 606c/kg.

Nutrien Delaney Livestock auctioneer Anthony Delaney said while the market had come back, the fact it was comparable to recent years was still a positive.

“It’s hard to compare a straight weaner sale to recent markets when we haven’t seen these types of cattle yet.,” Mr Delaney said.

“The market is definitely down a bit but all in all it’s still a very good result.

“Today was a day full of local competition with a lot of repeat buyers active, especially now (the market) has come back a bit, it’s allowed a lot more people to buy in.

“The whole of eastern Australia has just got too wet now and everyone’s appetite is just a little bit stalled at the moment and we’re waiting to see what kind of spring we get, if it ever comes.”