NARACOORTE
Yarding: 3340
Steers to $2298
Heifers to $1900
PTIC females to $2240
THE early sell-off continued at the Naracoorte combined agents' monthly store cattle sale on Thursday, with another big yarding as South East and Mallee producers took advantage of the outstanding prices.
Vendors were grinning from ear to ear with plenty of spring 2019 drops making $2000 plus in the 3340 head yarding.
Well-bred runs of 230-300kg Angus calves sold in cents a kilogram made up to $6.32 a kilogram- some of the highest rates ever seen in the yards.
NSW commission buyers Duncan Brown and Andrew Lowe were often 10c/kg in front of local buyers for backgrounding cattle but orders also came from the major feedlotters, Nutrien Adelaide and Elders Mildura, Vic.
Thomas DeGaris & Clarkson director Darren Maney was reluctant to compare this month's sale to the January feature weaner sales but said prices "lined up pretty well".
He said very few cattle weighing 380kg or more went back to the paddock with feedlotters "desperate" to secure numbers and while the light weight cattle sold "very well" it was probably the first time for the year that many 250kg cattle had been offered.
"The real serious thing going forward is a lot of the heavy cattle that got sold today were the cattle normally sold through the course of the winter," he said.
"And a lot of the light cattle were the calves drafted off and left at home that they would sell next spring, they decided to sell them early.
"The way we are looking there will be very few cattle for sale next August and September."
Steer top price honours at $2298 went to KW&BF Badenoch, Kalangadoo, with 22-23 month old Angus weighing 506.1kg.
The 26 head were knocked down at $4.54/kg to Teys Charlton, who along with TFI were strong on feeder steers.
Ten black baldies from the Badenochs weighing 538.3kg made $4.15/kg or $2234.
MW Copping, Mossdale, Lucindale, sold the heaviest pen in the yards with his 561kg milk and two tooth Shorthorns making $2150 to Creek Livestock, Mount Gambier.
Another 20 milk tooths from Mossdale, 461kg, made $2100.
Party Pie Pastoral, received $2190 for 7 March/April 2019 drop Black Simmental cross steers weighing 471kg.
Also in the older age steer section, Moyhall Pastoral, Naracoorte, received $2130 for 22 Angus weighing 455kg and DA&MJV Charlick, Padthaway, received $2080 for 20 April/May 2019 drops weighing 519kg.
R&P Edge, Reedy Creek, had one of the top weaner offerings with 75 March/April drops topping at $2088 and averaging $1940.
The lightest pen of these Granite Ridge blds- 26 weighing 371.3kg made $4.78/kg.
AuctionsPlus provided plenty of bids and buys with Bimbimbie Props, Wattle Range, receiving $4.72/kg or $2060 for the first of their Angus draft.
Another 10 weighing 431kg also sold online for $4.72/kg and the lightest pen of 10 made $4.80/kg.
WD, RG &NW Robinson, Edenhope, Vic, received $4.76/kg for 26 Angus-Hereford. 10-11 month old steers weighing 398.9kg or nearly $1900.
The majority of steers made $4.50/kg-$5.50/kg but bidding became frenzied for a few lines of young Angus calves in TDC's run, all headed to NSW.
Morundah Trust, Bool Lagoon, received $6.06/kg for 26 five and six month old EU steers weighing 251.5kg or $1524.
Another 46 of the Landfall and Stoney Point bloods of the same age, weighing 282.7kg, made $5.82/kg.
But it was 18 July/August 2020 drops from Ardrossan, Suttontown, which soared to $6.32/kg, paid by Mr Brown for AJF O'Brien & Sons, Coonamble, NSW.
They were 230.2kg.
Among the best of the coloured cattle were 30 April/May 2020 drop, Red Angus from Morton studs, Lucindale, which made $1780 to Elders Mildura.
Another 29 of these Jillangalo bloods weighing 329kg made $1630.
There was only a small c/kg discount for heifers compared to steers.
Hilton Rural, Robe, sold 16 October/November 2019-drop Pathfinder bld Angus for $1900 to TFI. They weighed 445kg.
Kintalpa Partners, Kingston SE, sold a well-bred pen of 26 10-11 month old Angus, 346.5kg for $4.68/kg or $1621.
Shady Grove Partners, Lucindale, received $1800 for seven 389.2kg black baldies - the top of their run of 60 April 2020 drop heifers.
TR Truscott, Marcollat, sold 12 Angus heifers, 266.6kg for $4.82/kg.
The lightest weight heifers attracted the same demand as their siblings including 13 218.4kg Angus from Ardrossan which made $5.80/kg or $1267.
Morundah Trust's EU Angus (240-270kg) made $5.46/kg-$5.62/kg.
Two pens of mixed age PTIC Angus cows due to calve mid March to Bull Oak Well Angus bulls were offered by N&S Steer, Pinnaroo.
Twenty four of these made $2240 and another 13 made $1800.
Southern Australian Livestock auctioneer Mat MacDonald said for the mixed quality offering it was a very good result.
"In our older steers there were a lot of two tooths and even four tooths which made up to $4.50/kg," he said.
"AuctionsPlus has been a really good inclusion especially on those big framey cattle or smaller lines being 20-30c/kg in front of where Teys and TFI have been."
He was surprised to see 3300 cattle yarded, expecting less than half that number, but he said it was no doubt numbers would be tight in winter with Naracoorte's weekly market likely to be only a few hundred head some weeks.
Mr MacDonald was hopeful those taking cattle on in the past few months would make a margin out of them.
"Everyone says we have another two years before breeder numbers are back up, I think we will get out of the cattle we are buying for $1500 to $1800 this spring but whether we see a correction in the weaner sales late this year and into next year will depend a lot on the season in NSW and Qld," he said.
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