Market cancelled with looming freezing temperatures

Close to 5000 steers were expected to be offered but it has been cancelled. A separate sale will be held on August 3, to allow time for freezing temperatures across Central Australia to dissipate.

Elders, Red Centre Rural and GDL, withdrew cattle from the sale on Thursday night last week because of concerns the weather would impact the welfare of stock.

Elders Alice Springs stock agent Mick Newman said recent weather and a very wet forecast forced the decision to cancel.

"The temperature is expected to reach about 8-degrees for the next few days with a possibility of snow on Mount Zeil," he said.

"It is not OK to put cattle into a yard situation in those conditions."

The remaining agents pulled their cattle out of the sale a few days later and Mr Newman said some vendors were also unable to transport stock after heavy rainfall flooded outback roads.

"A separate sale will be held in August in the hope the areas which did get a lot of rain will dry up and they will be able to get their cattle into the yards," he said.

"We also needed to give everyone some time to regroup and reassess to get cattle back into the paddock."

The cancellation has so far received positive feedback from vendors, with Red Centre Rural agent Steve Gaff saying most were pleased about the decision.

"Having the cattle welfare as the main reason was received well. We wanted to make sure everything was healthy and presented well," he said.

"In this country, cattle are handled up to five days before a sale, so we thought it was in the stock's best interest to pull our cattle out of this particular sale."

Leading up to the sale, some vendors were also unsure if they could attend or not.

"As the wet and cold weather continued, it became more clear some cattle were just not going to make it to the yards," Mr Gaff said.

A sale is expected to be held on August 3 and offer a similar yarding of milk and two-tooth steers from across Central Australia.

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