BUYERS at last Friday's store cattle sale were being instructed to "bring your dinner with you" as a massive yarding of nearly 4500 head went up for bids.
Cattle from as far away as the Pilliga region, the Northern Tablelands and southern Queensland were yarded at the Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange (TRLX), which was up from 3000 at the previous sale.
Steady rain prevented the yarding from reaching the expected number of more than 5000, but the quality of the cattle on offer made up for the missing stock, causing prices across most categories to firm from the last sale.
Cows with calves continued to be a highlight of Tamworth's fortnightly sale, reaching a equal saleyard-record high of $4400 per unit.
The category was well represented in the huge yarding, with a draft of Angus cows with calves offered by local producer Paul Ryman, topping the category at $4400, which equalled the record for a pen of cows with calves, which much like the record for a single cow with calf, was set at the previous sale.
A pen of crossbred cows with calves offered by local producers, PH Partnership, also reached the $4400 high, while most other pens sold from about $4000 to $3500, which was slightly cheaper across the board than the previous sale.
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Such was the size of Friday's yarding, the pregnancy-tested-in-calf (PTIC) cows had to be moved to the outside pens as all of the indoor pens at TRLX were full.
However, despite having to brave the wet conditions, buyers continued to support the category, as a pen of Hereford PTIC cows offered by Inglebah, Walcha, topped the category at $2625 a unit.
Despite making up the smallest portion of the yarding, most PTIC cows averaged around $2000.
Weaner steers remained firm from the previous sale, ranging from a low of about $900 for some light Bos Indicus steers, to a category high of $2290 a head for a draft of Angus weaner steers offered by the Pye family, Boggabri.
Most weaner steers sold for about $1500 to $1800/hd.
Prices for yearling steers also firmed from the previous sale, reaching a top of $2400 for a pen of Charolais-cross steers offered by the Sanderson family, Somerset Guyra, as well for drafts of Charolais-cross and Angus-cross steers offered by TJ O'Brien, Pilliga.
Tamworth stock agent Chris Paterson, Chris Paterson Stock and Station Agency, said "while steers were strong, the heifers were even stronger" as runs of Angus heifers offered by Koolewong Grazing, Goulburn, and local producers R and G Bomford, topped the category at $2250.
While the top price for heifers may have been slightly down on the last sale, the average prices were firmer as most pens sold from $1750 to $2000. Last Friday's sale was conducted by the Tamworth Livestock Selling Agents Association.
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Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
