RECENT rain did nothing to dampen the competition at the monthly Inverell store cattle sale as about 1800 head were yarded.
Thursday's yarding was up from 760 at last month's sale and was dominated by heifers which accounted for more than 1000 head.
Prices remained firm in most heifer weight and age categories, but weaner heifers arguably stole the show selling from about $1000 a head for lighter heifers, to a top of $2100.
"The heifers sold extremely well, if not a touch better than steers for the same comparisons," Inverell stock agent Will Claridge, C.L. Squires and Company, said.
"A lot of the weaner heifers were making anywhere from $1600 to $2100 for heifers weighing 250 kilograms or more."
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It was a similar story in the steer section of the sale as about 470 went up for bids, of which some lighter steers sold for the equivalent of 800 cents a kilogram.
"In the weaner job, some good light black steers got close to reaching $8 a kilogram ($1120) , for not a lot of weight probably 130kg to 140kg," Mr Claridge said.
"There was some fantastic sales on behalf of the Thompson family of Rocky Creek, including some 320kg Angus steers making $2100, so the backgrounding job was very good also."
Pregnancy-tested-in-calf (PTIC) cows was the next most well represented category, with about 200 head up for bids and prices remained firm from the September sale, averaging between $2000 a unit to a top of $2780.
"The PTIC cows sold extremely well compared to a lot of the other categories as they reached about $2780 for some forward store condition Ultrablack-cross PTIC red-tag cows," Mr Claridge said.
"As you came a bit further back in quality, cows were about $2000 but most PTIC cows sold from $2400 to $2600, which looked like a a good return."
A limited yarding of cows with calves rounded out the sale at the Inverell Regional Livestock Exchange and Mr Claridge said prices were slightly stronger than last month.
"The best cows and calves made $3000 a unit, for a middle-aged Hereford cow weighing about 550 kilograms with a 140kg calf at foot," he said.
"All in all it was a very strong sale with a very good quality yarding of pregnancy-tested-in-calf females, cows and calves, yearlings and weaners of all descriptions.
"The market was a lot stronger than expected because we had buyers from all areas that came forward and we saw a strong demand for cattle right throughout the market."
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