Producer meeting the market

FOR 15 years, Steve Hatton has run close to 200 head of cattle on his 505-hectare "Coonarah", property at Wee Waa for supermarket chain Woolworths.

Mr Hatton said the way the cattle market had been tracking close to the 600 cents a kilogram had made the process worthwhile.

“I’ve had good money and topped at $1800 a head for some, but average about $1400 to $1500 a head usually,” Mr Hatton said.

“At ‘Coonarah’, I generally sell about 50 head a month to keep the bills going.

“I’m not complaining that’s for sure. 

“I’m pretty happy with the market.” 

He said although the market was pretty pricey to buy at the moment, he tried to buy in cattle about the 300 kilogram to 350kg range to feed.

“Normally I try and take home a B-double-load of cattle and feed them according to weight, with a mix of oats, barley, hay and cotton seed in self-feeders, which contain all the vitamins and minerals they need,” he said.

“I have bought cattle from AuctionsPlus before, which is really good.”