Signs pointing to stellar SA bull sale season

And so begins a busy few weeks of auctions - none busier than Angus Week next week, when more than 900 bulls will go under the hammer.

There are many signs pointing to this being a selling season for the ages.

We are coming off a much kinder season in 2020, a year in which huge areas of the country emerged from drought.

This means more producers will have both the ability and the confidence to bid up to secure their desired genetics.

Cattle market prices have been on an unbelievable ride in the past 12 months, with the Eastern Young Cattle Indicator sitting at 875 cents a kilogram on Tuesday night.

This represents a gain of 232c in the past year, including a 44c gain in the past four weeks alone.

Our seedstock sector looks likely to be the next link in the beef supply chain to reap the benefits of the surging cattle market.

Related reading: SA studs enjoy excellent turnout for Beef Week

If visitor numbers and the volume of inquiries reported by many studs participating in Stock Journal Beef Week during the past week are anything to go by, there are exciting times ahead.

Beef Week wrapped up in the Upper South East on Tuesday, with more than 50 studs opening their gates across the four days. I extend my thanks to MGA Insurance Group and Allflex Livestock Intelligence for helping make the event possible.

By all accounts, it wasn't just so-called tyre kickers heading to studs for a look and a free lunch, with plenty of bull and female sales made during Beef Week. A few smaller studs had already sold all their season's bulls before their open days, such was the demand from clients.

It's especially pleasing to hear reports of interstate visitors from Vic, NSW and Qld stopping by participating studs.

With the threat of border closures and travel restrictions still in the back of most people's minds, it's great that so many interstate producers were able to come and see the quality of SA's bull offering for themselves.

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