The supply of cattle may have been limited to just 1700 head at the Central Tableland Livestock Exchange, Carcoar, on Friday, but that didn’t take anything away from the quality up for grabs.
Quality lines of young steers and breeding females kept the buyers interested in the market right to the last pen.
The stock condition in some pens were starting to show the effects of a dry summer, however other vendors made the comment that they were selling their young cattle now before they start to lose condition.
Some of the lines of steers offered on Friday would normally be sold during the annual April weaner sales at CTLX, however the dry season had forced some graziers to sell now.
Newbridge grazier Mark Stonestreet, “Mindaribba”, said he preferred to sell his steers and heifers now while they were still in top condition, rather than wait for the April sales.
“It’s looking pretty dry at home, so we decided the best option for us was to sell the calves now and give the cows a break,” he said.
“We are happy with the prices for our weaners today, so the decision (to sell) has paid off.”
Weaner steers weighing less than 200 kilograms sold from $600 to $870, while those from 200kg to 280kg were knocked down for $670 to $980.
Weaner steers tipping the scales from 280kg to 330kg sold from $945 to $1070.
Buyer competition was mostly local although some cattle filled orders from the Victorian border region.
Some very light weaner heifers started the bidding at $380, while most sales of the lighter lines started at $500 and pushed up to $670.
The medium and heavier weaner heifers received winning bids of between $630 and $910, depending on weight.
Yearling steers sold from $850 to $1100 although it was harder to gauge a trend for this category due to less than 100 head being offered.
Yearling heifers topped at $1025, while pregnancy-tested-in-calf heifers did a little better and topped at $1510.
A few pens of PTIC cows ranged from $910 to $1325.
There were plenty of cows with calves offered and the top pen sold for $2150 a head. This was for a pen of Angus cows with calves from Yamba Angus stud near Orange.
Cow with a calf less than two months were variable in quality and this accounted for the range being from $870 to $1500 a unit.
The cows with older calves sold from $1000 to $2150 a unit.
The sale was conducted by Central Tablelands Livestock Agents Association.