THE cattle market is expected to be favourable for vendors at Glen Innes and Armidale on April 7, with a high quality line up of weaners on offer.
The Glen Innes Blue Ribbon sale kicks off at 9am prior to the Armitage and Buckley weaner sale, held at Armidale, from 1pm.
David Thomas, “Kubba Jimba”, Dundee, is among the vendors at Glen Innes, selling his predominantly Angus weaners at the sale.
He’s a regular vendor at the blue ribbon sale, offloading all his weaner steers and cull heifers at this time every year.
But, if the season’s been tough, Mr Thomas said he has held onto his calves until the final Glen Innes weaner sale which runs about three weeks later.
This year, Mr Thomas’ weaners range from eight to nine months of age and are all by bulls from local stud Dulverton Angus, Glen Innes.
The weaner market is Mr Thomas’ preferred avenue for his cattle production, mainly because he likes to sell his calves off early so that his cows can be in condition for the next calving.
With parts of NSW receiving good rain in recent weeks, he was hopeful the market would be rewarding.
While he doesn’t have a specific weight to sell his weaners, Mr Thomas said he was happy to see them sold when they reach 300 kilograms or more.
All of his calves are fed on native grasses, which can usually get them up to sale weights relatively easy.
Mr Thomas said a great bonus of selling through the blue ribbon sale was the widespread area that buyers came from.
In recent years, most of his calves have been sold to local buyers, although there has been strong bidding competition from other regions across NSW.
Colin Say and Co agent Shad Bailey, Glen Innes, said he expected the market for weaners to remain strong, reflecting the high quality of cattle for sale.
