A GOOD quality yarding at Tamworth last Friday attracted strong buyer competition, pushing prices to a record saleyards high of $2850 for cows with calves.
The 2100-head yarding included 1000 steers, 600 heifers, 300 cows with calves and 200 pregnancy-tested-in-calf (PTIC) females, with cattle coming from the Tamworth region.
Buyers travelled from the New England, Hunter Valley, Gunnedah and Moree.
Among the big lines of cattle were 100 cows with calves and 100 PTIC cows from NGD Enterprises, Bendemeer.
Agent Simon Burke, Burke and Smyth Tamworth, said prices were strong for all categories, but the biggest demand was for steers to finish on winter crops.
Weaner steers were up to $120 a head dearer than the previous fortnightly sale and yearling steers were up to $150 dearer. Weaner heifers were up to $130 dearer and buyers paid up to $150 more for yearling heifers.
Lightweight and medium weaner steers weighed between 150 kilograms and 250kg and sold from $700 to $1100 and heavier weaners weighed from 260kg to 320kg and ranged from $1000 to $1240, up from $1110 at the previous sale, for six- to nine-month-old Hereford-cross weaners. Yearling steers made between $1100 and $1410, up from $1250 at the previous sale.
Lighter weaner heifers ranged from $550 to $800, heavier weaner heifers, weighing from 250kg to 320kg sold from $800 to $960 for six- to eight-month-old Charolais-cross weaners from Bruce Russell, “Brubri”, Manilla.
Yearling heifers sold from $800 to $1160 for Hereford heifers.
Cows and calves reached a new record for the Tamworth yards. selling from $1200 to $2850 for five- to eight-year-old Limousin-cross cows with calves from Angus and Limousin bulls and in calf to Limousin bulls.
PTIC females made between $1200 to $1680, up from $1550 at the previous sale.
Mr Burke said while there was some interest in the heavier young cattle from lotfeeders, restockers bought the majority of the yarding. He expected the market to remain firm for the next few months.
”There’s still a lot of demand for restocker cattle because we’ve got so much feed around, so I can’t see it getting any cheaper,” he said.
“We’re in one of the best springs we’ve seen in many years, and the future of the cattle industry is quite strong so people have got the confidence to pay a bit more for cattle, because there are good returns to be made.”
